DETROIT – Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has cleared the gunman in the shooting at a Detroit Lions tailgate in the Eastern Market as she ruled it a case of self-defense.
The decision has led to many questions about how Michigan’s self-defense laws work.
Video of the shooting where two men lost their lives has been released, and what’s seen on it from the moment the fatal shot was fired to the decision that the shooter won’t face any charges was shocking.
“I believed that Kim Worthy and her office looked at all of the facts and the individual committing self-defense when he shot,” said former Detroit Police Department Assistant Chief Steve Dolunt. “But still, an innocent life is gone.”
--> Everything we know: Prosecutor clears shooter in Eastern Market tailgate double fatality
Dolunt said the biggest factor that made the Eastern Market tailgating shooting a case of self-defense was the question of whether the shooter feared for his life.
“It’s the individual’s mindset,” Dolunt said. “If you feel that yourself or someone else is in imminent danger of being killed or felonious assaulted, then you have the right to protect them and fire weapon, but it’s your mindset, not mine, not the police officers. Are you in fear of your life? And if you are, then you have the right to discharge your weapon.”
The attorney representing the shooter said the newly released video showed that’s exactly what his client was thinking when he opened fire on Jalen Welch, who was seen with a gun just moments before.
“We could not speak more clearly than the video did, and the video speaks for itself, and we believe that my client acted in absolute self-defense in this regard,” said Adam Clements of Perkins Law Group.
Although innocent bystander Rayshawn Palmer was killed while trying to intervene, the shooter still won’t face any charges. But Dolunt said it certainly opens up the door for a civil wrongful death lawsuit.
“It’s going to be huge civil litigation in this,” Dolunt said.
“If that were to happen, I would still take the same appropriate steps to defend my client, even civilly,” Clements said.
Officials say the shooter and the victim both were CPL holders.