Individual killed in shootout with law enforcement in West Michigan, sheriff's office says

Michigan State Police officials are investigating after law enforcement fatally shot an individual who fired at them in Ross Township on Saturday, according to the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office. 

Deputies on Friday around 4:20 p.m. responded to a home on the 16000 block of East Augusta Drive for an alleged assault. According to officials, the person who reported the assault said an individual at the residence had pointed a firearm at them earlier in the day.

The individual briefly left the home, yelled at deputies at the scene and then went back inside, the county agency said.

"Based on the reported assault and concerns for those inside the home, deputies established a perimeter," the sheriff's office said in a news release.

The individual fired multiple rounds at deputies with a rifle "without warning or apparent provocation," according to the county agency. The deputies returned fire as they moved to cover.

Members of the Augusta Village Police Department, Richland Village Police Department, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, Portage Department of Public Safety, Michigan State Police and Kalamazoo SWAT and hostage negotiation teams then responded to the scene, officials said.

Negotiators attempted to work toward a peaceful resolution with the individual for roughly 10 hours while everyone else in the home was safely removed, according to the sheriff's office.

The individual refused to exit the home "despite continued communication and the use of less-lethal tactics intended to encourage" their surrender, the county agency said. They later shot toward law enforcement from an upstairs bedroom window, according to officials.

Officers then returned fire, striking the individual, the sheriff's office said. They died at the scene.

Officials said the deputies involved have been placed on paid administrative leave, per standard protocol.

No law enforcement personnel were injured in the incident.