JACKSON, Mich. — Her brother was shot by police, now she is speaking out about the man involved.
The 29-year-old was shot after officers were called to Mansion Street in Jackson on Saturday evening for a welfare check. When they arrived they saw him with a knife holding a woman in a headlock.
Annissa Wheeler says her brother had just left her apartment, that's when he called her--and she wasn't prepared for what she heard on the other side of the call.
"He said Annissa come get me and come get me now. I heard my mom in the back screaming for help," she said through tears.
In a now-deleted Facebook video, the Jackson man, identified by family and neighbors as the same man who was shot by police this weekend, is seen holding his mother in a headlock and you can hear screams in the background.
Wheeler said she tried to reason with her brother and told him she was calling the police. But she knew something terrible was about to happen.
"He was doing this because he was mentally ill and upset with my mom. We had a plan Monday, we was going to turn him in and get some help. I guess he couldn't make it."
After police shot him in the neck, his mother was able to get away with a stab wound to her back. Wheeler said her brother is a parole absconder and has had previous run-ins with the law. She added that they both had a strained relationship with their mother had been strained and she believes he had reached his breaking point.
"He just needed help. He was not a bad guy. No one knows what demons that guy was fighting," she said.
Now, as Wheeler is hoping her brother survives, she regrets she didn't get him help sooner.
"So I just want people to know if they are going through something like this or they know someone going through something like this, get them help. Don't wait until the last minute because now I might not have a brother for waiting," she added.
The investigation is being taken over by Michigan State Police, which is standard procedure. Once it is complete, it will be turned over to the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
The officer involved was placed on administrative leave until the investigation is complete. There are no updates on the status of the man or his mother.
