KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting has ruled that Sheriff’s Deputies were justified in a fatal August shooting that claimed the life of a Sheriff’s Deputy and the suspect.
On the night of August 14, Deputy Ryan Proxmire was among multiple deputies who attempted to stop suspect Kyle Goidosik at a Shell gas station in Vicksburg, who was wanted for fleeing and eluding police twice on August 13 and 14.
At that time, Goidosik was out on bond for a pending felony.
Goidosik is said to have drawn a handgun when deputies tried to talk to him before fleeing the scene in his vehicle. A pursuit followed.
During that pursuit, Goidosik fired multiple shots from his vehicle, one of which struck Proxmire in the head. Deputies were unaware he had been struck and continued to pursue Goidosik.
According to the report, Goidosik then drove down a dead-end rural road surrounded by fields. At that location, he opened fire at the other deputies, who returned fire.
He first attempted to escape by driving through the field before driving directly at the deputies, who had blocked off the road.
He was struck multiple times by deputy gunfire and succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
According to his autopsy report, Goidosik was struck three times in the left leg and once in the left side of his head, which was said to be the fatal shot.
All deputies involved in the incident had received various forms of specialized training.
- Sgt. Chris Hoffman has been employed with the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office since November 2001.
- Deputy Justin Barts has been employed since March 2008.
- Deputy Patrick Braidwood has been employed since September 2016.
- Deputy Riley Gallagher has been employed since May 2021.
Deputy Proxmire died from his injuries the day after the incident, August 15.
The case was subsequently investigated by the Michigan State Police before being reviewed by Getting.
Through review, Getting says Goidosik represented an immediate danger to the responding officers and others.
“At that moment, in the dark, faced with a man armed with a gun, who had shot at them multiple times, driving directly at them, who had made it clear to any reasonable person that he would not voluntarily surrender to police custody, would cause any ‘reasonable officer’ to have a honest and reasonable belief that they and their fellow officers were in immediate danger of serious injury or death,” Getting wrote.
For those reasons, it was determined that the shooting was justified, with Getting adding that the officers likely saved more lives by doing so.
No charges will be filed against those involved.
Further Reading –
In a related matter, the Tunnels to Towers Foundation has announced that they have paid off the mortgage for Proxmire’s surviving family members.
For more on that story, click here.
