Michigan Attorney General Concludes Review of Fatal Ypsilanti Shooting: No Charges Against Deputies
The Michigan Department of Attorney General announced on November 5 that it has concluded its review of the January 6, 2026, officer-involved shooting death of John Jenuwine, 34, of China Township, in Ypsilanti, without issuing charges against the Washtenaw County Sheriff's deputies involved, finding their conduct lawful under state self-defense laws and that the deputies' belief that their lives were in danger met a legal standard of reasonableness as the circumstances appeared to the officers at the time. The matter was investigated by Michigan State Police and referred to the Attorney General by the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office.
Between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. on January 6, multiple 911 callers reported a white construction van being driven erratically and at high speeds in Ypsilanti, with one caller reporting the driver was armed and had brandished a gun at another driver. Deputies located a matching van at 1:53 a.m., driving erratically without headlights; Jenuwine fled, leading a pursuit of about 14 minutes in which he repeatedly reversed toward deputies' vehicles, twice forcing them to reverse to avoid collision, and at times drove on the wrong side of the road. At 2:06 a.m., a deputy ended the chase with a precision immobilization technique (PIT) maneuver that rolled the van onto its side. As deputies approached, one called out that the driver had a gun; three deputies fired approximately 34 times across 7 seconds. Around 4:00 a.m., officers entered the van and found Jenuwine deceased.
Michigan State Police evidence technicians found no firearm inside the van. The Washtenaw County Medical Examiner determined that two of the seven gunshot wounds would have caused death within seconds to minutes, and that Jenuwine had high levels of cocaine in his body that night. Reviewing police reports, 911 and dispatch audio, body-worn and in-car video, the medical examiner's report, and the sheriff's office use-of-force and pursuit policies, the Attorney General's Office concluded that while the deputies were mistaken about the presence of a firearm, that belief was not unreasonable based on the totality of the circumstances as they knew them, and that under the Michigan Self Defense Act the use of force was justified.
(Source: Michigan Department of Attorney General)
Source: Michigan Department of Attorney General
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 Ann Arbor 的沃什特瑙县法院大楼。Charles W. Chapman 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Washtenaw County Courthouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Photo by Charles W. Chapman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
