Calls for Transparency Come After Fatal Police Shooting

City leaders and community members asked for transparency and community conversations after the fatal police shooting of a 21-year-old Black man who police say was the suspect in a stabbing last week. 

On April 15, police were dispatched to respond to a theft at a business near the intersection of Lake Lansing Road and Abbot Road. While officers were traveling to the location, police received a second call that a man had stabbed a person multiple times. 

When police arrived at the scene, they found a suspect who appeared to have blood on himself and was holding a weapon. Officers shot and killed the man after he ran at them and ignored commands to drop the weapon, Police Chief Jennifer Brown said at a press conference last week.

In a later press release, police said the stabbing victim – identified by Foster Swift law firm as local attorney Douglas Mielock –  is recovering at home. The release also identified the man shot by police as Isaiah Kirby. 

A press release sent Wednesday morning included statements from Kirby’s mother, Karyn Kirby, and the family’s attorney Teresa Bingman. The release said Isaiah was an aspiring herpetologist who had held jobs at Potter Park Zoo and Preuss Pets in Lansing, and was set to graduate from Michigan State University in just weeks. 

Kirby’s mother counted at least 17 bullet holes in her son’s body, according to the press release. The family has asked to view video evidence of the incident, but has been told video may be “compiled or edited” before it is shown, the release says. 

“The law is clear: deadly force is justified only where there is an immediate threat of death or serious injury,” Bingman’s statement reads. “That determination must be grounded in objective facts – not assumptions, not evolving narratives, and not conclusions reached after the fact.”

ELPD is in the process of putting together a video timeline of events in the incident, which will be shared in “in the upcoming weeks,” according to a press release from ELPD. The shooting is being investigated by Michigan State Police while ELPD officers involved are on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure. 

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, East Lansing Independent Police Oversight Commission Vice Chair Kath Edsall gave well wishes to Mielock and condemned all forms of violence, but said ELPD’s history of disproportionately using force against people of color raises questions about this incident. 

“Felonious assault in Michigan carries a maximum $2,000 fine and four years in prison, instead he [Kirby] was killed,” Edsall said. “I suspect all his loved ones would have preferred the former.”

Edsall said Kirby may have been experiencing a mental health crisis at the time, and called for the release of unedited video footage. 

“While I imagine the footage is horrifying, it is not and should not be up to ELPD to determine what to release,” Edsall said. “Every video from the body worn cameras, the dashcams and local businesses should be made available.”

The fatal shooting of Kirby comes in the wake of a high profile incident of alleged police brutality by ELPD against two Black men, transparency rollbacks within the police department and calls for Brown to resign after comments she made in a news interview were condemned as racist by city leaders and residents. 

At Tuesday’s meeting, former East Lansing Councilmember Dana Watson said other departments have released footage within days of police shootings, and was critical of the council and Mayor Erik Altmann for not addressing the incident. 

“I only saw a remark from Councilmember [Mark] Meadows. Other mayors, city managers and council members in the past and throughout the country stand by their own,” she said. “Where the f— were you guys at?”

Watson went on to say the city should hold a town hall to address the shooting, an idea Meadows and Mayor Pro Tem Chuck Grigsby endorsed later during the City Council meeting. 

Altmann read from a statement wishing Mielock well and giving condolences to Kirby’s family. He said the city is committed to ensuring residents and visitors feel safe in East Lansing and gave support to the police department.

“Our officers work hard to protect us,” he said. “Our police officers put their lives on the line each day when people call for help. They are often required to make rapid decisions while under extreme pressure, with the lives of our citizens and the officers themselves on the line.”

Altmann urged community members to allow the investigation by state police to run its course. 

“This is a time for compassion for all involved, including the broader community,” he said. “Our community is coping with a tragic and troubling sequence of events, with multiple lives forever changed.”