Man shot by police pleads guilty after pointing gun at officers outside Lansing hospital
Gregory McDowell Jr. (MDOC)
LANSING, Mich. (FOX 2) - A man pleaded guilty this week after pointing a gun at police officers in the parking lot of the Sparrow Hospital St. Lawrence Campus in Lansing last year.
Gregory McDowell Jr., 47, was wanted for assault with intent to murder and absconding from probation when Lansing police saw him driving recklessly in August 2021. According to Attorney General Dana Nessel, McDowell crashed the vehicle, later determined to be stolen, then fled on foot with a gun.
Sparrow employees spotted him in the parking lot. When a group of police found him, he was hiding under a Sparrow security vehicle.
Nessel said police told McDowell to drop the weapon multiple times but he wouldn't.
Then he crawled out from under the security vehicle and rolled onto his back. He took the firearm from his left hand and transferred it to his right hand and extended his arm toward the officers, Nessel said. When he did this, a Michigan State Police trooper shot him multiple times.
After an investigation, it was determined that the trooper used reasonable force.
Read more stories from around Michigan here.
McDowell pleaded guilty to one count of felony firearm – second offense. He faces a mandatory five-year prison sentence when he is sentenced on Feb. 15, 2023.