BATTLE CREEK, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The Battle Creek Police Department Friday released dashboard camera videos of the moments when an officer shot a suspect earlier this week.
The video released compiles footage from four different dash cameras over several minutes. Only one dashcam captures the moments of the shooting. However, it doesn’t show the shooting itself.
“We are releasing the video in hopes of clarifying the events of that night,” said Police Chief Jim Blocker in a news release. “At the same time, we cannot get too far in front of the legal process, to which all parties are entitled.”
he incident happened around 12:15 a.m. Tuesday at the intersection of West Columbia Avenue and South LaVista Boulevard in Battle Creek.
Police pulled over a vehicle for a number of traffic violations including erratic driving, stopping and backing up in the middle of the road, and an illegal turn.
As one officer spoke to the driver, 21-year-old Jacquann Smith of Jackson, outside the vehicle, a second officer arrived, approached the vehicle’s front seat passenger and noticed 18-year-old Daevion Wright of Jackson had a gun in his waistband. According to authorities, the second officer asked Wright to put his hands up so they could remove the gun, but when the officer went to grab the gun Wright began to resist and reached for a second gun on the floor.
The second officer then shot their own gun, striking Wright. He was transported to a Kalamazoo hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Nobody else was injured during the incident and the two guns were recovered. The driver was arrested on charges related to the traffic stop.
