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On August 8, 2021, Detroit police officers 1 and 2, were in an undercover gray Dodge Charger police vehicle, that was parked on the side of East Grand Boulevard working a drag racing detail. The officers observed a 2021 blue Dodge Charger doing donuts in the road before losing control and striking the undercover car. Both vehicles suffered extensive damage. All four occupants of the 2021 Charger ran from the vehicle. * However, Michael Contrell Adams III, 19, of Eastpointe, MI, ran back to the front passenger side of the 2021 Charger and reached into the car. Adams removed a gun from the car. The two officers identified themselves as Detroit police officers and told Mr. Adams to drop the gun. Officer 1 said Mr. Adams looked at him and pointed the gun at him. The officer fired his weapon three times but did not know if the shots took effect. After the shots were fired Mr. Adams continued to flee on foot but shortly collapsed.

Officer 1 asked Office 2 if he was all right and then radioed command that shots had been fired. Mr. Adams' gun was recovered at the scene near the passenger front door of the 2021 Charger. There was a trail of blood droplets that went from the 2021 Charger to the sidewalk on the west side of the southbound lanes of East Grand Blvd. The blood droplets continued for approximately 50 feet north of Trombley Street. Mr. Adams was located at the end of the blood droplet trail by Officers 3 and 4 who received a radio run to the area for "shots fired". They observed the two Dodge chargers with disabling damage, a black pistol on the ground, and saw Mr. Adams suffering from gunshot wounds.

Officers on the scene rendered assistance to Mr. Adams until he was transported to a local hospital and pronounced deceased at 12:13 a.m. on August 9, 2021. The Wayne County Medical Examiner's autopsy showed that that Mr. Adams' death was caused by three through and through gunshot wounds.

Civilian witnesses that were in the area were interviewed in the case and have many credibility issues that did not support criminal charges of the officers in the case.

Under Michigan law a person can act in self-defense or defense of others if there is an honest and reasonable belief that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent the imminent death, or imminent bodily harm to himself or another individual.

Officers 1 and 2 were working undercover and not wearing body worn cameras at the time of the car crash and the shooting incident. Following the crash, the passengers in the 2021 Charger were running away, with Mr. Adams running back to presumably get the gun. Officer 1 exits his car and his gun raised, backing away from Mr. Adams as he fired shots. Surveillance video was obtained from a business located in the 2440 block of East Grand Blvd. corroborates this. This supports the idea that the officer is aware that a weapon is present, and he is trying to distance himself from it. When Mr. Adams refuses the request to drop the gun, Officer 1 fires his own weapon in defense of himself and his partner. Mr. Adams' gun is near the car before he flees.

In this case Officers 1 and 2 actions were justified. They acted properly under the circumstances and the warrant request will be denied.

* DPD later confirmed the vehicle was stolen out of Dearborn in May 2021. The people who fled from the car were never identified.

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