KALAMAZOO TOWNSHIP, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – A Kalamazoo Township police officer is stable condition snd a suspect is in critical condition after both were shot trading fire late Thursday morning.
According to Township Police Chief Brian Ergang, the situation started on the west side of Kalamazoo Township, near Kendall Street. He said officers responded to an assault in which a suspect, described as a 23-year-old Portage man with a criminal history, assaulted his girlfriend and pointed a gun at her. The suspect has been out on parole since April 2024.
The suspect took off, but around 11:00 a.m. officers tracked him to the area of Oakland Drive and Howard Street in Kalamazoo. One from Kalamazoo Township and one from Western Michigan University Public Safety approached the suspect.
The police chief said the officers told the suspect to stop but the suspect tried to run away. As the officers chased the suspect, Ergang said the suspect turned and fired a gun, hitting the Kalamazoo Township police officer in the leg near the pelvis.
Ergang said officers returned fire at the suspect, “who had not just threatened deadly force against officers, but took action by firing a handgun.”
Both the Kalamazoo Township officer and the suspect were taken to the hospital.
The WMU officer was placed on administrative leave.
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