A man was fatally shot by police after wielding a knife against officers and himself following a wreck with a semi truck in Michigan on Tuesday.
The incident occurred on April 27th in Macomb County, Michigan.
In the incident, the semi truck and a pickup were involved in a wreck at around 6:20 a.m. on Groesbeck Highway between Martin and 12 Mile. After the wreck, witnesses approached the pickup to check on the driver, and that’s when “the driver produced a knife, and the witnesses could see the driver’s wrists were cut. The witnesses retreated and police were contacted,” reported The Detroit News.
When police arrived, the motorist, later identified as Frank Robles, was in the roadway holding a knife. When officers asked him if he was okay, Robles responded ‘no,’ and started towards officers with the knife in hand. Officers instructed Robles to drop the knife, but he ignored them and kept on advancing towards the officer. An officer then shot Robles, causing him to fall to the ground.
“The man attempted to get up from the ground still in possession of the knife. The officer fired several more shots which prevented the male from advancing any further,” according to the Macomb County Sheriff’s office. A total of nine shots were fired in the incident. Police called for medical assistance, but Robles was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital a short time later. No officers were injured in the incident. The truck driver was also uninjured. The front end of both the pickup and the semi truck were damaged in the wreck. It is unclear what caused the initial accident.
Robles was a custodian for Roseville Community Schools according to Superintendent Mark Blaszkowski.
“He was a trusted, hardworking individual for us and he will be dearly missed. I had nothing but positive interactions with him personally,” he said in a statement.