A man is hospitalized after a Berrien County Sheriff's Office Tactical Response Unit member shot him following a standoff and foot chase through the woods near a Home Depot in Benton Township. Police say the ordeal began with a reported assault and escalated within minutes into a firearm-pointing standoff, a temporary store lockdown, and a K-9-assisted woods search before the shooting.
A Domestic Call That Escalated Fast
Benton Township Police said officers were called around 8:30 a.m. Thursday to the access drive near the Home Depot on Pipestone Road for a reported assault, according to WSBT 22. Police say the man had fired a firearm at a woman, and when officers arrived, he pointed a gun at them. According to WSJM, officers had initially responded to an 8:37 a.m. report of a man firing a handgun at a woman, and the suspect was later found sitting in a van in the Home Depot access drive, where he allegedly pointed the handgun at responding officers before fleeing into nearby woods.
The man then ran into a wooded area, prompting police to establish a perimeter and a K-9 search, per the station's report. The Home Depot store was temporarily placed on lockdown during the standoff and search, and the emergency response drew a sprawling multi-agency effort — officers and firefighters from Benton Township, St. Joseph, and Benton Harbor, along with Michigan State Police, specialized units from the Berrien County Sheriff's Office, and aerial surveillance from the Great Lakes Drone Company, the same account notes.
Tactical Unit Finds Suspect Still Armed
A member of the Berrien County Sheriff's Office Tactical Response Unit found the man while he was still armed and shot him, WSBT 22 reported. The TRU, originally established as a county SWAT team in 1974 and renamed in the mid-1990s, maintains an authorized strength of 22 members trained for high-risk barricaded suspect operations, according to the Berrien County Sheriff's Office, and it deploys integrated Tactical Emergency Medical Services personnel alongside its tactical operators.
The man received medical attention at the scene before Medic 1 Ambulance transported him to Corewell Health Lakeland's St. Joseph Hospital, according to ABC57. The hospital, located on Napier Avenue roughly three miles west of the Pipestone Road commercial corridor, serves as Berrien County's primary 24-hour emergency department and acute care facility, according to Corewell Health. The names of the man and the officers involved have not been released, and it remains unclear whether the man discharged his own firearm during the final encounter in the woods.
Where the Shooting Fits on Pipestone Road
The Home Depot sits within Benton Township's primary retail corridor near Interstate 94's Exit 29, an area surrounded by major commercial developments including Fairplain Plaza and the former 63-acre Orchards Mall redevelopment site, according to Moody on the Market. Pipestone Road functions as a major traffic artery through the county, making the lockdown and search especially disruptive for a heavily trafficked stretch of Benton Township.
The initial assault call that triggered the response falls under Michigan's felonious assault statute, Michigan Compiled Laws Section 750.82, which covers assaulting a person with a firearm or dangerous weapon without intent to commit murder. That charge carries penalties of up to four years in prison and a $2,000 fine under Michigan law.
State Police Take Over the Investigation
Michigan State Police is investigating the officer-involved shooting, WSBT 22 reported. Under standard Michigan protocol, all officer-involved shootings by municipal or county law enforcement are independently investigated by the MSP Special Investigation Section and then submitted to the Michigan Department of Attorney General or the county prosecutor for formal review, per state policy. The Michigan State Police Fifth District, headquartered in Paw Paw, directs state police posts and special investigation teams across Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren counties, according to the State of Michigan.
The shooting adds to a run of major emergency responses across Berrien County in recent days, including a fatal I-94 rig fire that killed a 22-year-old Chicago trucker. Benton Township has its own history with violent line-of-duty incidents; Sergeant Robert Stevens was killed responding to an emergency at a restaurant near Interstate 94 and Napier Avenue in 1970 and is commemorated on the Berrien County Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, according to the Berrien County government. No further details on the suspect's condition or identity had been released as of the latest reporting.
