The fatal shooting of a man by Jackson police officers was justified, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jerry Jarzynka.
The prosecutor released a report Friday morning, detailing the circumstances of the exchange of gunfire on April 1, 2018 at 943 Chittock Avenue.
The prosecutor's office says that the officers acted in self-defense, when they shot Christopher Lamar Hall 6 times and grazed him twice during the shootout. One officer was injured in the exchange of gunfire.
Officers were called to the home around 1:30pm on April 1 for a domestic violence incident. Dispatch advised officers that a black male had assaulted his girlfriend and threatened to kill her. Officer Tom Tinklepaugh was the first to arrive on scene and just seconds after getting out of his patrol car, gunshots could be heard. As Officer Tinklepaugh tried to get cover, Officer Kuhn arrived and saw Officer Tinklepaugh fall to the ground and try to get behind a telephone pole as he fired his weapon in the direction of the home where Hall was firing his weapon at police. The entire incident lasted about 30 seconds.
The report says when Hall came out of the house, a white female came out at the same time. That woman was later identified as Hall's girlfriend, Heather Jurasek. It was determined she was the victim of assault that led to officers arriving at the home. Hall used her body as cover during the exchange of gunfire. She was hit with a bullet in her pelvis area and had two grazing wounds to her back. Hall was shot and killed at scene.
The report concluded that Hall presented an immediate danger of death or great bodily harm to the officers and therefore, they fired in defense of themselves. Their decision to shoot at Hall was Justifiable.
