Fallout from Patrick Lyoya's death, Minnesota man arrested for threatening Detroit mosques, Elon and Twitter

THURSDAY NEWS HIT - The fatal shooting in Grand Rapids by a white police officer of a Black suspect during a traffic stop last week has left the Grand Rapids community shaken and sent shockwaves across Michigan. 

A former assistant chief for the Detroit Police Department is speaking out about how officers are supposed to respond — and the ACLU is calling for change.

"It’s very tragic on both ends for the victim and the police officer," said Steve Dolunt, retired assistant chief of police, DPD.

It's a tragedy to which Dolunt says there is no clear-cut answer to, until details of the investigation unfold. He says last week's officer involved-shooting that killed Patrick Lyoya is an example of what happens when a minor infraction gets out of hand —  fast.

"It goes back to the state of mind of the victim - 'Am I going to go to jail, is he going to write me a ticket, is he going to impound my car,'" Dolunt said. "You have the cop going what is going on here why is this guy acting kind of hinky, does he have a gun, does he have warrants, whatever. And then the victim tries to run away, the officer tries to grab them, a struggle ensues."

Dolunt says a police officer's force is supposed to mirror what they face.

"If I talk to you and if we’re good, that’s how it stays," he said. "If you escalate, then the officer escalates. When you escalate,  the officer escalates. When you deescalate, the officer supposed to deescalate."

Dolunt says here that de-escalation didn't happen. He says deadly force should be used only when the officer —  or someone around them —  fears for their life or is in immediate danger.

More Coverage:

• Patrick Lyoya shooting: Grand Rapids police release videos of officer killing man during traffic stop
• Patrick Lyoya shot to death by Grand Rapids Police - here's what the video showed

"He was in fear, I am assuming, that if the guy got the Taser and tased him and got his gun, all bets were off," Dolunt said.

Dolunt says if the officer would have had a partner or back-up it likely would have been avoided.

"If someone was there to help him, this probably would have never happened," he said. "They could’ve gotten the guy under control, they wouldn’t have fired the shot I’m guessing, the backup wasn’t there on time."

Meanwhile, attorney Miriam Aukerman from the American Civil Liberties Union says they want Grand Rapids police to release the officer's name — and they want another prosecutor's office besides Kent County, where the city is located, to investigate.

"People have relationships, they know people, they know the officer involved, they are the officer's friends, they know the other officers who reported to the scene," said Aukerman, senior staff attorney. "There are lots of reasons why just as a matter of human nature, you don’t want to have the people who work day-to-day with each other, investigating each other."

Three agencies are doing their own investigations— Grand Rapids police, Michigan State Police, and the Kent County Prosecutor's Office.

Minnesota man arrested after drives to Michigan, threatening to blow up Detroit-area mosques

A Minnesota man was detained after driving to Michigan making statements about wanting to "blow up" mosques near and around the Detroit area, according to a city of Dearborn spokesperson.

The 60-year-old from Minneapolis is being held in the Van Buren County Jail awaiting charges after reportedly ramming 11 vehicles Tuesday in Paw Paw, on the west side of the state. According to victims, the suspect is believed to have intentionally rammed into "vehicles driven by persons of color."

The man allegedly continued to make disparaging remarks about women and minorities during encounters with police. Police did not identify any weapons or explosives in the vehicle. Because the threats made involved houses of worship, the FBI will be investigating.

According to a city of Dearborn spokesperson, officers were stationed at all mosques in the city as a precaution. Investigators say it is believed the suspect was to have been acting alone. About 42 percent of the Dearborn population is Arab-American, boasting one of the biggest Middle Eastern communities in the U.S.

Wayne Mobile Health Unit brings equality to life expectancy

The team at Wayne Health knows how to break the cycle of health disparities in Black and Brown communities. They've started collecting data about racial health disparities in Detroit. To help the people, they wanted to address their health needs directly. To help make that happen, they needed an $18.5 million grant, which Fox 2 told you about last November.  

Now, they are able to bring the people their health needs in their new Mobile Health Unit. For more than a year, we’ve seen the Wayne Health Mobile Unit break down the barriers to health care access in Detroit's black neighborhoods, from COVID vaccines to heart health awareness. 

Wayne Health’s Chief Innovation Officer, Dr. Phillip Levy says his team has noticed nearly seven out of every 10 visitors have elevated blood pressure. "Most of the folks have pretty profound hypertension and a lot of them fall into the category of what we call stage 2 hypertension, which is advanced hypertension that we really need to do something about as soon as possible," said Levy.

This summer, Wayne Health will officially begin its "achieve greater initiative," a program, which provides Detroiters with the resources to manage their health. Within this program, after one visit with the Mobile Health Unit, all other follow-ups can be done remotely.

Dark side of solar sales: Powerhome Solar's pitch leaves customers powerless

High electrical costs, poorly constructed panels, and disingenuous sales pitches were all accusations levied toward Powerhome Solar by customers that bought into the mantra pushed by the company that they'll own their own power. From Kalkaska to Flint to Holly, people all around Michigan say the returns they've gotten from their panels haven't measured up to what they were promised.

Multiple FOX 2 employees were undercover when they were given a pitch that their DTE energy bill would fall, they would get money from the federal government, and that even Ford Field was 100% powered by solar panels. 

But the experiences from customers reveal the costs of those promises far exceed the benefits. One woman is stuck with more than $70K in loans and her energy bill is twice as high. Another couple had their panels installed on the wrong side of the roof. 

It's an experience that even employees who used to work for Powerhome Solar saw firsthand. See Rob Wolchek's latest Problem Solver's piece here.  

MDOC employee awarded $1.2M settlement against department

A 16th Circuit Court in Macomb County awarded Darin Rushing over $1.2 million this week, in a case against the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC).  Rushing, a correctional officer at the Macomb Prison, responded to a prisoner attacking people. The attack in 2011 left him with a fractured leg and ankle that required four surgeries to fix. 

According to Rushing's attorney Jon Marko, Rushing developed severe post-traumatic stress disorder after the attack. Additionally, the doctors told him he would be crippled. He spent the next year in a wheelchair but went back to work a year later. 

Marko called it a just verdict. The judge also said the department discriminated against Rushing when he went back to work. His one request upon his return was to be kept away from the prisoner who attacked him. His boss said that was fine. It lasted two years.

But a new boss in 2015 dismissed his PTSD and ignored his request. Rushing had a mental breakdown afterwards and he was disciplined for not going around the prisoner, Marko said. "I think that PTSD is not very understood. They used it to mock him, they would call him a faker, you know because it's a mental thing," he said.

What else we're watching

1. FOX 2 will be making periodic updates to its story following DTE Outages as strong winds move into the state. Get the latest status here. 
2. A manhunt that lasted just over 24 hours ended when the suspect in the Brooklyn subway shooting called into the city's Crime Stoppers line and reported his location. Frank R. James, 62, is accused of injuring more than two dozen people in a shooting on Tuesday. 
3. Amazon says it will add a 5% fuel and inflation surcharge to some sellers that use the company's fulfillment services, which includes storing, packing, and shipping products. 
4. Just how much does Michigan's deteriorating roads and bridges cost its drivers? A new report from a Washington transportation nonprofit says the average household pays $4,845 in costs due to the state's poor infrastructure.  
5. The census bureau says roughly 35% of households in the city of Detroit do not have a broadband internet subscription, despite access being citywide. The federal government's Affordable Connectivity Program offers $30 a month toward costs for internet. 

Live on FOX 2

Daily Forecast

Strong winds will be a staple of Thursday weather, prompting a Wind Advisory for much of the day as 50 mph gusts push a cold front over Michigan, dropping temperatures for the next few days. 

National Story Headline

Elon Musk is offering to buy Twitter, just days after the Tesla CEO said he would no longer be joining the social media company’s board of directors.

Twitter Inc. said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that Musk, who currently owns slightly more than 9% of its stock and is the company's biggest shareholder, provided a letter to the company on Wednesday that contained a proposal to buy the remaining shares of Twitter that he doesn't already own. Musk offered $54.20 per share of Twitter's stock.

He called that price his best and final offer.

"I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy," Musk says in the filing. "However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company."

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