UPDATE: Charges issued in the trooper involved shooting
UPDATE — Friday, December 2nd, 2016 12:15 p.m. (EST)
The charges have been issued and the suspect has been arraigned in the trooper involved shooting in Hulbert.
According to officials, the suspect has been identified as 35-year old Joshua Kenneth Stead of Bellaire, Michigan. The Chippewa County Prosecutor issued a warrant for Stead on November 30th, charging him with three counts of homicide-attempted murder, one count of assaulting/resisting/obstructing a Police Officer causing injury, one count of malicious destruction of police property, and one county of fleeing and eluding a police officer.
These charges are felonies under the Michigan Compiled Laws. Stead was arraigned on Friday, December 2nd by the presiding judge at the 91st District County in Sault Ste. Marie. Stead has no bond and his preliminary exam has been scheduled for December 15th.
HULBERT — Police are investigating an incident in the eastern U.P. that ended in a suspect being shot on Monday evening.
Troopers from the Michigan State Police Sault Ste. Marie Post say two troopers and a Chippewa County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to a residence in Hulbert to investigate a domestic disturbance around 6:30 p.m. When they attempted to contact a 37-year-old white male, he fled in a vehicle.
When officers attempted to stop the driver, he rammed into the troopers, disabling both vehicles and injuring one of the troopers. The suspect then exited the vehicle and continued to attempt to harm the troopers. Police say the second trooper then shot the suspect.
The injured trooper was treated and released from the hospital, while the suspect was airlifted to UP Health System – Marquette to undergo surgery. His condition is unknown at this time.
Troopers say that Michigan State Police personnel are required to follow strict guidelines in the discharge of firearms. MSP policy permits officers to point or discharge a firearm in self-defense or defense of another when he or she reasonably believes there is imminent danger of death or great bodily harm.
Michigan State Police are currently conducting a full and complete investigation of the incident. When completed, the case will be sent to the Chippewa County Prosecutor’s Office for review. The trooper involved in the shooting was put on administrative leave per department policy.
Detectives were assisted at the scene by personnel from the St. Ignace, Sault Ste. Marie, and Gladstone Posts, the MSP Grayling Crime Laboratory, the Chippewa and Luce County Sheriff’s Offices, Michigan DNR, U.S. Border Patrol, Chippewa County EMS, Luce County EMS, and the Chippewa County Road Commission.