41 shots in 7 seconds: Family questions why police killed man

Editor’s note: This article contains a recording of a 911 call in which a man threatens to commit suicide, as well as dashcam video showing police opening fire and killing the man. Discretion is advised.

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GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) – A year after Grand Haven police shot and killed an armed, suicidal man in a hospital parking lot, his family still has questions.

Including: Why didn’t they try to calm him down?

Dashboard camera videos and reports obtained by Target 8 under the Freedom of Information Act show that less than a minute after initial contact, officers fired 41 shots at Anthony Lyon, who reportedly pointed a loaded rifle at one of them from his SUV.

It started with an emergency call from Lyon at around 4:30 a.m. on July 9, 2023.

“OK, I’m standing in the parking lot of the North Ottawa Community Hospital, I’m an organ donor and I’m going to kill myself,” the 66-year-old man told the dispatcher.

“Sir, sir, I don’t want you to do that,” the dispatcher replied.

“Yes, I will. So I am an organ donor and I give you permission. My name is Anthony Lyon.”

https://www.woodtv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/51/2024/07/anthony-lyon-911-call-070923.mp3

“I would like you to stay on the line, sir.”

“I won’t,” Lyon replied. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“No, sir, please don’t hang up.”

The dispatcher called back immediately, but the call went straight to voicemail.

Within minutes, David Karel, a Grand Haven Department of Public Safety officer — in his second year on the job — approached Lyons’ 2005 GMC Envoy from behind while rookie Officer Keegan Langworthy was just steps away.

Karel got in from the driver’s side and Langworthy from the passenger side, while a hospital worker walked ahead of them in the dark.

“It’s not going to start,” said Lyon, his voice picked up by a police officer’s body microphone.

“Okay, do you have a gun in the car?” asked Karel.

“Yes, I do,” said Lyon.

At that moment Karel drew his gun.

“He needed a break in life”

Officials had no way of knowing anything about Lyon. The former drummer for local rock band Nervous Habit was a father of two and a long-distance truck driver. He had cared for his late father, who was once again depressed and using drugs – crack – while caring for his elderly mother around the clock at their home in Grand Haven.

“My dad was an incredible guy,” said his son, Mark Lyon. “He took care of his dad, my grandfather; he took care of his mom, and he needed a break. He needed a break in life.”

As a Catholic, his son said, Anthony Lyon believed suicide would keep him out of heaven, yet he left farewell letters to each of his siblings and to his son and daughter. His son believes he attempted to take his own life in the parking lot that morning.

“He tried,” his son said. “The gun didn’t work. He wanted to make sure his organs were donated, right? That’s why we assume he went to the hospital.”

Lyon’s family wonders why police did not take cover behind patrol cars and bring in a mental health worker to negotiate.

“Why would you approach a car?” his son said. “What’s going to happen? It’s going to escalate, right? It’s not going to de-escalate the situation. When they approached the car, everything escalated.”

POLICE OFFICER: “HE HELPED WITH THE WEAPON”

A dashcam on site recorded further scenes of the incident.

“Can you please keep your hands on the wheel?” said Officer Karel.

“Yep,” Lyon replied.

“Actually, you could hang them from the ceiling,” said Karel.

“I won’t do that,” Lyon replied.

“Why is this?”

“I don’t feel like it… I have two (expletive) bullets,” Lyon told the officer.

“Put your hands on the roof, okay?” said Karel.

“No,” said Karel. “Is he touching me?”

Then, 40 seconds after Karel first came into contact with Lyon, both police officers opened fire: 41 shots in seven seconds. It is not clear from the dashcam videos which officer fired first.

“The police fired shots,” Karel radioed to the operations center. “We have a suspect in the vehicle. Nothing else is known. Could we please send more units here.”

“We don’t have a clear view of the suspect,” he continued. “Looks like he’s carrying a sawed-off shotgun.”

“Just breathe,” one officer said to another. “Are you hit?”

“I don’t believe.”

“Me neither.”

Lyon’s son saw the video.

“My heart sank,” said Mark Lyon. “I couldn’t believe they shot that many times. It was crazy. Forty times? Both sides? Both officers on both sides?”

While officers waited for backup and were unsure if Lyon was still alive, their body microphones continued to run.

“He wanted to get the gun,” one of the officers said.

“Where was the gun?” said the other officer.

“You could see the muzzle. It was sticking out the window.”

“It was between his legs. He reached down and grabbed it,” Langworthy said. “The muzzle was at least pointed at me.”

“Did he shoot you?” asked Karel.

“I don’t know,” Langworthy replied.

Police say Lyon’s rifle, a Winchester Model 94-30, had a live round in the barrel and was ready to fire, but there is no evidence that Lyon fired any shots.

Officials said it was self-defense

Target 8 has obtained crime scene photographs that show that multiple police shots have penetrated the back and headrest of Lyons’ car seat.

Lyon was hit 21 times, including 17 shots in the back and one in the neck.

The autopsy also revealed amphetamines and cocaine in Lyons’ body. His organs were not donated.

“Hey, we have a witness,” Karel said to the man running in the line of fire in front of Lyon’s SUV. “Hey, sir, can you please wait with that other police unit with your lights on?”

That witness, a phlebotomist, told investigators he heard the man complaining that his gun wouldn’t go off, even though he didn’t see the gun. He said he saw the man move as officers backed away and “lit him up.”

The witness, who wished to remain anonymous, told Target 8 that ricocheting bullets hit a car parked nearby.

He said he believed the officers’ actions were justified.

The officers were placed on paid leave (standard procedure after the use of deadly force) and refused to speak to investigators, instead providing written statements: Karel said he was protecting his colleague, and his colleague said he was protecting himself.

“A sudden fear for Officer Langworthy’s safety gripped my mind and I became sick as I realized Lyons’ gun was pointed at Officer Langworthy,” Karel wrote. “I knew the use of deadly force was necessary to avert the imminent threat of death or great bodily harm to Officer Langworthy.”

Langworthy wrote: “I saw Anthony’s hand slide along the gun toward the receiver and trigger as he pointed the barrel at me. Then he put his left hand on the receiver. I remember feeling my stomach turn and then a great fear that Anthony was going to shoot me.”

OTHER OPTION: DISTANCE AND COVERAGE

Two experts who viewed the video at Target 8’s request say the shooting was justified, but officers did not give themselves a chance to negotiate.

“It quickly went from zero to 100,” said police psychologist Dr. John Nicoletti, who was involved in the development of the Suicide by police officer protocol and training manual for the Police Executive Research Forum.

“The lesson for police would be to look at it from a tactical perspective and think about what is happening and what negotiation options we have,” Nicoletti said. “And the most important option would be distance and cover. Don’t go into the kill zone. When you’re in the kill zone, it’s hard to de-escalate the situation.”

However, he said he did not blame the officials for this.

“They are there to stop things, that is their job. They are the aggressors,” he said.

Roy Taylor, former police chief and now Training Consultantsaid officers were at a disadvantage: It was dark and they had no description of his car.

“They could have backed up quickly, run back to their patrol cars, used the cars as cover, verbally ordered him to put the weapon down and come out, and in the meantime called the other officers, the signs, the dog, and maybe crisis intervention-trained officers to try to get him out of the vehicle,” Taylor said. “Those are all things they could have done, but instead they were in close proximity and that was the decision they made, and it was a lawful decision.

“He left them no choice,” Taylor said.

And what about 41 shots?

“The officer is taught to keep shooting until the threat is eliminated,” Taylor said.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s one shot or 100 shots. They shoot until the danger is averted.”

Ottawa County Prosecutor Lee Fisher concluded the shooting was justified, saying Lyon posed a danger not only to police officers, but also to the hospital employee walking in the parking lot and to nearby residents.

Lyon’s family hopes the shooting will lead to more training. Mark Lyon said:

“My greatest wish is to ensure that Grand Haven revises its policies on dealing with suicides of this nature so that something like this never happens again.”

Nicole Hudson, newly appointed Director of Public Safety in Grand Havenwho has worked for the department for 21 years, declined to comment Wednesday on the shooting or whether it led to any policy changes.

“I will now only address the decision of District Attorney Lee Fisher (that it was justified),” she said. “Other than that, I have no further comment.”

Recently retired GHDPS Director Jeff Hawkewho headed the department at the time of the shooting, did not respond to calls from Target 8 seeking comment.

Mark Lyon said the family has not yet decided whether to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, you can contact the national Lifeline for suicide and crisis anytime on 988.