BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — A man has been charged for shooting an officer's gun during a struggle.
The Battle Creek Police Department says the man was having a mental health episode during the incident on Thursday, May 26.
The department released body camera footage that shows the moments before and after the man fired an officer's weapon.
"We received calls of a gentleman who was running out in front of traffic. It appeared as if he was trying to get hit by a vehicle. When officers responded to the scene, they made contact with him, and he was saying some things that alerted to them something, something was amiss," said Battle Creek Police Department Deputy Chief for the Patrol Division Troy Gilleylen.
Officers first tried to deescalate the situation by talking to the man, something they say is taught in academy training. Courses within the department, including Crisis Intervention Training (CIT), also teach this in more detail.
"We probably spend 16 hours to begin with, and then as it progresses, for instance, the CIT training itself is a 40-hour course and mental health training for first aid is a several hour course as well," said Deputy Chief Gilleylen.
READ: UPDATE: man charged with firing officer’s gun amid mental health crisis
As seen in body camera footage, the man ran back into traffic, so the officers made contact with him.
The department says the man grabbed one of the officer's guns in the holster and pulled the trigger.
"He was able to get his fingers just in the right place, and the gun was caught by the holster itself, the rotation feature, but he was still able to get his finger in there just enough to get a hold of the officers figure when fired off one round," said Deputy Chief Gilleylen.
"Some of the thinking these days is that because there was a position among mental health community, that police officers should not be involved these situations because of the fact that they are armed and uniformed, and they can be perceived as being a threat to the person as was this case, so that's the argument for the corresponding model," said Western Michigan University Professor of Sociology Dr. Barry Goetz.
Dr. Goetz, who specializes in policing and society, said law enforcement officers still need to be trained because there are more of them than mental health workers.
While the man was arrested and lodged in Calhoun County Jail, the Battle Creek Police Department says they reached out to their mental health partners already.
"That is always important to us to get the necessary help that they need in an incident like this, so we are working with them. They were briefed on the situation, along with the jail and others on this stuff," said Deputy Chief Gilleylen.
The officer did get hurt when the man fired the gun, but it was a minor injury and he is already back to work.
