YPSILANTI, Mich. (WXYZ) — Washtenaw County Sheriff Alyshia Dyer is setting the record straight about a deadly deputy-involved shooting, revealing that no firearm was found in the suspect's vehicle despite initial reports.
On Jan. 6, Washtenaw County deputies shot and killed a 34-year-old man from St. Clair County after a traffic stop turned into a chase that ended with a crash near Towner and Prospect streets in Ypsilanti.
Watch Tiarra Braddock's video report below:
Initially, the sheriff's office reported that the suspect was armed with a shotgun. However, Sheriff Dyer now confirms no gun was ever found inside the van.
"So we were going off the radio traffic from the deputies on scene and when deputies approached the vehicle after the vehicle chase, they reported there was a shotgun and they said shots fired over the air," Dyer said.
Watch our extended interview with Sheriff Alyshia Dyer below:
The sheriff explained that Michigan State Police is handling the investigation, so her deputies did not search the van. When she recently contacted MSP to confirm a firearm was found in the vehicle, they told her no gun was present.
"When we learned about that information, I felt the public needed to know. These situations demand transparency and so I wanted to make sure that the record was corrected that there was actually not a firearm in the vehicle," Dyer said. "My heart goes out to everyone involved in this situation and impacted."
Community activist Trische Duckworth praised the sheriff's transparency in correcting the record.
"I do feel a sense of transparency coming from this current sheriff because we can pick up the phone and contact her, we've been to meetings inside the sheriff's office… I've never been that far inside the sheriff's office with that other administration," Duckworth said.
The deputies involved in the deadly shooting have been placed on administrative leave and will not return to the sheriff's office until MSP's investigation is complete.
"We want the community to know we are taking this very seriously," Dyer said.
Dyer said she will release body camera footage when she is able to do so.
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