One thing I've found to be helpful is to go to the local newspapers for the story instead of some blogger who usually has an agenda
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/09/prosecutor_milton_hall_homicid.html
"The initial call came in at 1:50 p.m. July 1 from the Mobile gas station across the street from the Riverview Plaza on West Genesee in Saginaw.
The caller stated that a man was walking out of the gas station with a coffee and hadn't paid. She added that he spit on the clerk's face. One Saginaw police officer responded to the gas station and then went across the street to the plaza parking lot.
Hall approached her car, and the officer saw him remove a knife from his pocket, Thomas said.
In police scanner traffic, the officer responding called for backup. A dispatcher radioed that there was a man armed and dangerous.
The responding officer can be heard saying, "We can't let him get out of this area, he's going to kill somebody."
Eight officers responded, Thomas said. They were the only officers on patrol duty that day.
"Officers repeatedly said, 'Put the knife down, put the weapon down.' (Hall) said, 'No, I ain't putting it down. I ain't putting this (expletive) knife down. You're gonna have to bust a cap; I'm not gonna put the knife down.' And (Hall) refused every command of every officer out there to disarm himself," Thomas said as he was reading from audio transcripts.
Thomas said that one witness stated an officer yelled out for Hall to drop the weapon. The witness, according to Thomas, said that Hall refused.
Thomas said that Hall's response, according to witness testimony, was, "Nope, some mother (expletive) is gonna die today."
"He said, 'Some mother (expletive) is gonna die today. It's gonna be me, or it's gonna be you," Thomas said.
In the video, which was taken by the camera on the second police car that arrived, Hall can be seen holding his knife out in his right arm.
A K-9 handler and the police dog were standing in front of Hall. The other seven officers were in a semi-circle around him.
There was no audio with the video because the police microphones were not working properly, Thomas said.
Thomas explained the video before he showed the officers shooting Hall.
"You can see the knife in his right hand. He takes four or five steps toward the officer and police dog, and the officers shot at that time," he said.
Six of the eight officers fired their weapons. Thomas said the K-9 handler did not fire because he was holding onto the police dog, and the eighth officer was switching from his Taser to his gun and did not fire.
According to the time on the video, the shots were fired at 2:09 p.m.
Thomas said 47 shots were fired. Eleven of those shots hit Hall. Ten of them hit his arms and legs, and one gunshot caused his death.
Kanu Virani, the Saginaw County Medical Examiner, completed an autopsy on Hall's body. Thomas said Virani found that one gunshot entered Hall's pancreas and killed him.
Thomas said officers requested a "bean bag gun," but the lieutenant at the department did not have access to the room where it was locked.
"The officers didn't go out and shoot him right away when he was threatening the first officer," Thomas said, adding that the officers looked for non-lethal options.
He said he's not talking about the shooting being "justified" but whether the officers "committed a criminal act."
"The officers' lives were dangered," he said. "Especially the officer with the dog, and the dog."
Thomas said the state police interviewed 20 sworn witnesses throughout the 10-week investigation.
He said one witness, who came forward about two weeks ago, wrote down everything she saw that day and provided that information to investigators.
"All you're hearing today is from two prosecuting authorities who have criminal jurisdiction for the county of Saginaw. Both have said we don't feel we saw criminal intent, and we are not issuing criminal charges," Thomas said.
He added that the Department of Justice denied a request from him to participate in an investigation.
"Whether or not they are performing an independent investigation depends on what the source of your information is," Thomas said, elaborating that he is not aware of an investigation.
"The caller stated that a man was walking out of the gas station with a coffee and hadn't paid. She added that he spit on the clerk's face. One Saginaw police officer responded to the gas station and then went across the street to the plaza parking lot.
Hall approached her car, and the officer saw him remove a knife from his pocket, Thomas said.
In police scanner traffic, the officer responding called for backup. A dispatcher radioed that there was a man armed and dangerous.
The responding officer can be heard saying, "We can't let him get out of this area, he's going to kill somebody."
Eight officers responded, Thomas said. They were the only officers on patrol duty that day.
"Officers repeatedly said, 'Put the knife down, put the weapon down.' (Hall) said, 'No, I ain't putting it down. I ain't putting this (expletive) knife down. You're gonna have to bust a cap; I'm not gonna put the knife down.' And (Hall) refused every command of every officer out there to disarm himself," Thomas said as he was reading from audio transcripts.
Thomas said that one witness stated an officer yelled out for Hall to drop the weapon. The witness, according to Thomas, said that Hall refused.
Thomas said that Hall's response, according to witness testimony, was, "Nope, some mother (expletive) is gonna die today."
"He said, 'Some mother (expletive) is gonna die today. It's gonna be me, or it's gonna be you," Thomas said.
In the video, which was taken by the camera on the second police car that arrived, Hall can be seen holding his knife out in his right arm.
A K-9 handler and the police dog were standing in front of Hall. The other seven officers were in a semi-circle around him.
There was no audio with the video because the police microphones were not working properly, Thomas said.
Thomas explained the video before he showed the officers shooting Hall.
"You can see the knife in his right hand. He takes four or five steps toward the officer and police dog, and the officers shot at that time," he said.
Six of the eight officers fired their weapons. Thomas said the K-9 handler did not fire because he was holding onto the police dog, and the eighth officer was switching from his Taser to his gun and did not fire."
