BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) — A man was shot dead and an officer was shot in the leg in downtown Battle Creek Thursday afternoon, police say.
It happened shortly after 3:40 p.m. at Café Rica on E. Michigan Avenue near Division Street. Authorities say officers were called there on a report of an “unwanted person,” a release said. A Battle Creek spokesperson could not clarify why the person was “unwanted.”
Several officers responded, there was a “physical altercation” and an officer was shot in the leg.
Another officer shot the man and “stopped the altercation,” the release said. The man died at the scene. Police did not immediately release his name but said he was a 29-year-old from Texas.
A witness who was nearby told News 8 she saw an officer run inside Café Rica and heard multiple gunshots.
“Literally within minutes. I just seen her run inside and then all you heard was a ring of gunshots. That’s all you heard,” said Baylee Chadwick, who was sitting in a car in a nearby parking lot. “I knew it was gunshots right off … I looked at my mom like, ‘Mom, that’s gunshots, we need to get out of here.’ And she didn’t know what to do. We were literally frozen.”