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Prosecutors believe Wayne police shooting of suicidal man was justified

Online Niel November 14, 2024

No charges will be filed against a Wayne police officer who shot and killed John Zook Jr., 40, after he called 911 to report he had just tried to kill himself, according to Wayne County prosecutors .

Prosecutors said the officers acted in self-defense and that the June 18 fatal shooting was justified, according to a news release issued Wednesday morning.

Wayne police officers responded to an apartment building in the 35000 block of West Michigan Avenue for a report that Zook had just tried to kill himself by cutting himself all over with a knife, according to the news release. He told dispatchers that he had a 4-year-old child in the apartment with him and that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia but was off his medication.

When police arrived, Zook answered the door, shirtless and holding a knife with the blade pointed at the floor, according to the news release. He had numerous cuts on his torso. One of the officers pointed his Taser at Zook and the other pointed his gun at him as they ordered Zook to drop the knife.

Zook did not drop the knife and walked toward the officers, according to the news release. An officer tried to use his Taser, but Zook was too close for it to work. The second officer fired his Taser, while still pointing the gun at Zook, and as Zook approached, he fired at both of them at the same time.

“At the time the officers used force, they objectively knew that Mr. Zook was armed with a knife, which would legally be considered a dangerous weapon,” according to a news release from Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. “It appears that Mr. Zook was actively suffering from a mental health crisis, was not acting rationally and was just trying to kill himself. He was not responding to commands while standing armed at a very short distance from the officers.”

Officers did not use deadly force until Zook “objectively posed an imminent threat to their safety when he came toward them after unsuccessfully attempting to use a Taser to disarm him.”

Zook was shot four times after he refused to drop the knife, according to prosecutors. He died a short time later and was found to have at least 54 stab wounds to the neck, chest and abdomen.

The child was asleep during the incident and was removed from the apartment unharmed, according to prosecutors.

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