GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Outgoing Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom said he believes the police dog that took down Da’Quain Johnson last week kept him from shooting one of his officers.
Moments later, one of his officers fired three shots while on top of Johnson after a short struggle. A death certificate shows Johnson, 32, died of a gunshot wound to the back.
“That K-9 knocked him over just at the moment that it looked like he was about to draw and shoot,” Winstrom told News 8 in an interview Thursday, just days before his move to Florida. “And I’m confident from the police world and the legal world, everyone who looks at it is like, ‘Wow, it looks like that officer was about to get shot at, if not shot, but for the actions of the K-9.’”
GRPD Chief Winstrom: Vocal police haters helped drive him out
In the wake of that shooting, which remains under investigation, Grand Rapids Mayor David LaGrand has floated possible police reforms, questioning the use of police dogs and providing more incentives to get police officers to live within the city limits…