GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — An off-duty Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officer shot and injured someone following a fight at a campground near Evart Saturday evening, the state agency says.
It happened at Merrill-Gorrel Campground, the county parks system confirmed.
The DNR said the conservation officer, who was camping with his family, intervened in a fight involving two other people. The officer ultimately shot one of the people. That person was seriously injured and remained in the hospital as of Thursday.
Another person was injured in the fight, but that person was not shot and was not hospitalized. The DNR officer was not injured.
Amy Pethers, who was at the campground when the shooting happened, told News 8 that she called 911 after hearing what sounded like a domestic fight inside a nearby camper. She said that before local police arrived, the conservation officer confronted a man. She said she heard him identify himself as a conservation officer and then three shots. Pethers said a man was shot once in the lower abdomen and she helped administer first aid.
A DNR spokesperson did not have complete details about the shooting Thursday and could not tell News 8 whether the people involved in the fight were armed, nor could he speak to why the officer felt it was necessary to shoot. He said a Michigan State Police investigation would consider those questions.
The officer’s name was not released. He was placed on paid administrative leave until the investigation is complete. That is standard procedure for shootings involving officers.
—News 8’s Ken Kolker contributed to this report.
