COMSTOCK TOWNSHIP, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – A 17-year-old is in custody after allegedly threatening a family with a handgun at the Walmart store on Gull Road in Comstock Township Wednesday evening, then fleeing from police.
The Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the store at 6065 Gull Road around 6:30 p.m. for reports of a man inside the store with a gun. A man reportedly had threatened the family with a small black handgun during a confrontation.
As officers were taking the report, witnesses saw the suspect leaving the store heading toward a black sedan. Officers attempted to stop the suspect in the parking lot, but the suspect refused to follow the officer’s commands and fled the area in the vehicle. According to the sheriff’s office, deputies quickly caught up with the vehicle, then attempted a traffic stop, but the suspect vehicle fled at a high rate of speed.
As the Sheriff’s Office pursued the fleeing suspect, additional deputies deployed spike strips and were able to successfully deflate the vehicle tires, but the subject
continued to flee. As the fleeing vehicle entered a residential neighborhood, they say an intentional collision was performed by deputies, rendering the vehicle inoperable.
The suspect was taken into custody by a Deputy after a short foot pursuit.
A firearm was recovered at the scene and the suspect will be facing charges of felonious assault, fleeing and eluding, resisting and obstructing officers, and felony firearm. The 17-year-old suspect was lodged at the Kalamazoo County Juvenile Home.
