The bailiff who shot and killed a man during an eviction is a former officer with the Detroit Police Department.
That detail was revealed during a Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meeting Thursday. In July, Sherman Butler was fatally shot by a 36th District Court officer during a court-ordered eviction in Palmer Park. Detroit police were on the scene after the bailiff requested help, according to the department. The bailiff, police have said, came across a person with a weapon trying to attack him during the eviction.
Police accountability and housing advocates have called for the release of police body cam footage from the fatal shooting. However, the Detroit Police Department has said that because the shooting did not involve a department employee using deadly force, the video would remain confidential.
The department faced additional questioning from its oversight board on Thursday.
When asked by Commissioner Ricardo Moore whether the bailiff who shot Butler is a former member of the Detroit Police Department, Grant Ha, legal advisor to Detroit Police Chief James White, confirmed that he is. Ha did not specify, when asked by another commissioner, whether the bailiff had retired, saying that was before his time.
“Release the video and be transparent with the public,” Moore told the Free Press on Thursday. “This shooting happened July 12. … it’s just nonsense to just keep delaying it.”
The bailiff is a former police officer with the department, who was hired in June 1999. He resigned from the department February 2003, DPD Public Information Director Dayna Clark, said Friday.
More: Coalition demands release of body cam footage from fatal shooting during an eviction
Detroit police, in an August news release, said officers did not respond to the eviction but to the bailiff’s safety concerns. Once on the scene, police say they encountered an individual with a box cutter, who was “holding it to his neck.” An officer used a Taser, but it did not work. The person then attacked the bailiff, who fired “multiple shots,” according to police. The man then “lunged toward the officer,” and the bailiff fired more shots. The Detroit Police Department said its officers did not fire shots.
The Detroit Police Department Homicide Task Force submitted an investigator’s report to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, according to the news release. The prosecutor’s office received a warrant request — which typically contains police reports, forensic evidence, photos and witness statements to determine if there is enough evidence to criminally charge a suspect — from Michigan State Police related to the fatal shooting.
The case is still being reviewed, the prosecutor’s office said on Thursday.
Detroit’s 36th District Court approves a list of court officers whom landlords may hire to conduct an eviction. They are not employees of the court but rather independent contractors. Court officers may obtain a license to carry a concealed firearm.
Chief Judge William McConico in a statement earlier this month said the court will “refrain from making any additional comments on this issue until the Detroit Police Department has completed its investigation and released their findings.”
Free Press staff writers Andrea May Sahouri, Violet Ikonomova and Paul Egan contributed to this report.