Michigan State Police Investigate Police Shooting Death of Mentally Ill Black Man

The fatal police shooting of an Ecorse man suffering from schizophrenia is under investigation Tuesday night, as the Michigan State Police try to determine if the shooting was justified. Early Tuesday morning, Jack Morgan says he called 911, and, like several times before, requested an ambulance to take his brother to the hospital. Relatives say 43-year-old Nathaniel Morgan was schizophrenic and was hearing voices. They say he grabbed a steak knife. Nathaniel walked outside when rescue workers arrived, but it’s unclear if he was still armed with the knife when a reported rookie officer shot and killed him. Jack Morgan, Nathaniel’s brother, told 7 Action News, "The regular cops it would have never happened, but the new cop on the beat, he got scared and shot him." "He don’t mean no harm talking, he’s just talking because he wants help," he added. Police had scheduled a press conference for 3:00 Tuesday afternoon, but at the last minute, city attorney Andrew Robertson came out and said it was cancelled, and wouldn’t say much more. "I don’t have any information that I can give you other than the fact that there was a police shooting this morning. Someone is deceased. Other than that, I don’t know," Robertson said. [more]