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The Jackson County Prosecutor has decided that a fatal officer-involved shooting in March was justified. Prosecutor Jerry Jarzynka, in a six-page decision, detailed the events leading up to the shooting of Kenneth Townley, 47, on March 11. According to Jarzynka's investigation Townley had robbed a Dollar General store on the 3500 block of E. Michigan Avenue that afternoon. Clerks described the robber and a person matching that description was spotted on Tyson Street near Watts Street by a Blackman Public Safety officer. The officer made contact with Townley and other officers from Blackman Township, Jackson County Sheriff's Department and the City of Jackson arrived to assist.
Witnesses said officers told Townley to put his hands on his heads and he refused each time. Townley then pulled what appeared to be a gun out of his sweatshirt and held it at his side. Officers again told him to drop the gun and Townley refused, instead he raised the gun and pointed it at officers. Officers then fired their guns at Townley and he fell to the ground. He died later at a local hospital. Investigators found that the gun Townley used to threaten officers was an Airsoft pistol, and not a real gun. Jarzynka said in his statement that the officers acted in self-defense and in the defense of others around them and for those reasons the use of deadly force was justified.
