Driver, 17, killed, deputy injured after traffic stop

Note: Police initially identified the driver as Deven Guildford. The correct spelling of his last name is Guilford.

ROXAND TWP. – For the second time in less than two weeks, Michigan State Police are investigating a fatal roadside shooting involving Eaton County Sheriff's Office personnel.

Deven Guilford, 17, of Mulliken, was shot and killed by an Eaton County Sheriff's sergeant during a traffic stop Saturday night on M-43, less than a half-mile west of Cochran Road, in Roxand Township, state police said in a news release.

Guilford was shot after he and the sergeant became involved in a physical struggle and died at the scene, according to the release.

The sergeant suffered "significant" injuries and was taken to Sparrow Hospital, state police said. The sheriff's department said the sergeant has been placed on paid administrative leave.

The incident was the second fatal shooting involving staff of the sheriff's department in less than two weeks and the third in the Lansing area since early December.

State police are investigating Saturday's incident at the request of the sheriff's department. Investigators from the Lansing Post and First District Special Investigation Section are assigned to the case, state police Detective Sgt. Jeremy Brewer said.

State police were withholding the name, age and gender of the sergeant, Brewer said.

The sergeant still was undergoing medical treatment on Sunday, although Brewer would not say whether he or she remains hospitalized.

The reason for the traffic stop, details of the struggle and how many shots were fired also are being withheld, Brewer said.

The incident happened along a nondescript stretch of road lined mostly by farm fields a few miles west of Grand Ledge.

Tom Kellicut, who lives along M-43 near where the shooting occurred, said the traffic stop happened shortly before 8:30 p.m. on the westbound side of the road.

Kellicut said he didn't notice anything unusual as the officer approached the driver and spoke with him through the vehicle's window.

"A few minutes later, another police car showed up and stopped in the middle of the lane next to the car," said Kellicut, 32. "Then, a whole slew of other police cars and fire trucks came in, and they started branching out to block off the traffic."

Kellicut said he didn't see the struggle or hear any gunshots.

"Nothing that I saw made it look like something might happen," he said. "But I had a bad feeling about it. I don't know why. I felt compelled that I should watch this in case something happens, but I didn't pay attention to my gut."

State police also are investigating the shooting of a Charlotte man on an Eaton Rapids Township rural road on Feb. 17.

Mathew Lundy, 32, was shot and killed by Eaton County sheriff's deputies along Canfield Road, just west of Eaton Rapids, after his sport-utility vehicle went into a ditch.

State police have said two of the three sheriff's deputies who were at the scene fired their weapons after seeing Lundy with a weapon. The deputies involved in the shooting were placed on paid administrative leave, and the investigation is ongoing.

On Dec. 8, Randy Minier Jr., was shot by a Lansing Township officer during a traffic stop on West Kalamazoo Street.

Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III has since ruled that the shooting was justified, saying Minier, 27, waved a gun in a threatening manner and disregarded commands to drop the weapon.