Prosecutor: Deadly Shelby Township police shooting was justified

Shelby Township officer-involved shooting was justified, prosecutor says

A Shelby Township police officer was justified in shooting an armed man who fled a traffic stop in June. Prosecutor Pete Lucido said the officer who fired shots will not be charged.

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (FOX 2) - A June police-involved shooting that left one man dead in Shelby Township was justified, the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office determined.

Authorities with the Macomb County Sheriff's Office and Prosecutor Pete Lucido announced Thursday that no charges will be filed against the officer who shot 41-year-old Thomas Antonio Jackson.

Watch the press conference above. WARNING: The content may be disturbing to some.

The backstory:

An officer attempted to stop Jackson near Hot Spot Coffee on Van Dyke and 22 Mile around 3:15 p.m. June 3. Jackson, who authorities say had a suspended license, got out of the Dodge Caravan he was driving and ran through the parking lot of the coffee shop.

The officer chased him and attempted to tase Jackson twice, but the Taser did not take effect. Around this time, another officer arrived on the scene and saw that Jackson was armed with a handgun. An officer can be heard on body-cam video saying that Jackson turned toward them with the gun when they tried to tase him.

The officers told Jackson to drop the weapon, but he didn't. One officer fired eight shots, striking Jackson five times. Aid was rendered at the scene before he was taken to a hospital, where he died.

"All he had to do was drop the gun to the ground and obey the commands of the officer," Lucido said after announcing that his office determined that no charges would be filed.

Dig deeper:

Authorities said Jackson had open warrants, which included one for a probation violation, as well as several warrants for failing to appear to court for traffic matters. It is not clear why the officer tried to pull over Jackson on June 3, but authorities said it was a traffic stop.

Activist says running from police shouldn't end in deadly police shooting

The shooting that killed Thomas Jackson of Troy by a Shelby Township police officer was justified, according to the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office.

After the shooting, investigators determined that the gun Jackson had was stolen. According to authorities, that firearm was reported stolen from a vehicle in Detroit in 2023.

The other side:

Community activist Rev. W. J. Rideout said the shooting was not justified.

"We don't see him point it at an officer," he said. "With this kind of case you're saying everyone who has a gun in their hand running down the street, you get to shoot them in the back because they don't stop."

Rideout, from the Defenders of Truth activist group, said more police training is needed.

"People are going to say he shouldn’t have ran. And I agree if he has criminal convictions that he probably shouldn’t have the gun," Rideout said. "He probably shouldn't have ran. But that doesn't give people the right to shoot people in the back and take the law in their own hands and act like they're judge (and) the jury.

"He deserved his day in court, now he gets his day in the funeral home."

No charges in deadly Shelby Township police shooting

The Macomb County prosecutor announced Thursday that no charges will be filed against a Shelby Township police officer who shot and killed a suspect in June. Authorities said the suspect refused to drop a gun and turned toward police before he was shot.

Authorities said that Jackson's family has retained the Ven Johnson Law Firm to potentially file a civil lawsuit.

Attorney Ven Johnson released the following statement:

"The body cam footage speaks for itself. Thomas clearly did not intend to harm the officer or anyone else. Running away from a police officer by a person who is not threatening an officer or anyone else, should not result in a death sentence."

The Source: FOX 2 attended a press conference hosted by the Macomb County Sheriff's Office for this story.