By Brandon Champion
MLive.com, Walker, Mich.
DELTA TOWNSHIP, Mich.— Michigan State Police have released video of a man being shot and fatally injured by an Eaton County Sheriff’s deputy after he approached her with a knife.
The incident occurred in a neighborhood area on Jerryson Drive in Delta Township around 7:15 a.m. on Tuesday. Police have identified the man shot by police as Sean Ernest Ruis, 43, of Grand Ledge. He later died in surgery.
The deputy had been pursuing Ruis after he allegedly stabbed a 77-year-old man from Lansing inside a Dimondale Quality Dairy store earlier Tuesday morning.
MSP say an argument began inside the store shortly before 6:45 a.m. over Ruis, who was a customer there, not wearing a mask. Ruis was refused service by the store. Ruis is accused of stabbing an older man in the store before he fled in a vehicle.
The graphic police video shows Ruis exiting the vehicle and walking toward the deputy with a knife in his hand. The female deputy, a 22-year veteran officer, can be seen yelling at the man to drop the weapon while backing away from Ruis.
The video then shows the deputy firing several rounds at Ruis when he fails to comply and makes an aggressive motion toward her. He then drops to the ground.
The stabbing victim was treated for his injuries, police said. The incident remains under investigation by the Michigan State Police.
“The involved deputy has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure when involved in a shooting incident,” Eaton County Sheriff Tom Reich said in a statement. “We will also conduct an internal review of the incident for compliance with ECSO policies, procedures and training.
“Our thoughts and prayers are for the full recovery of the victim who was stabbed at the Quality Dairy and for his family, and are with our deputy who was subsequently violently attacked. They are also with the family of Mr. Ruis who was killed in this senseless, tragic incident.”
©2020 MLive.com, Walker, Mich.