Detroit police held a press conference on Tuesday to address the fatal shooting of Porter Burks, a 20-year-old schizophrenic Black man who was killed by police as he was having a mental health crisis. Police said they fired 38 shots in three seconds and killed Burks as he was approaching them with a knife, ABC News reports.
Bodycam footage revealed during the press conference shows officers negotiating with Burks, who allegedly possessed an 8-inch blade knife.
“You’re not in any trouble, just drop the knife and we’ll get you some help,” an officer can be heard saying in the video.
The footage shows officers firing immediately when Burks appeared to be moving forward.
“It’s unfortunate but this was a life-threatening situation,” Detroit Police Chief James White said during the press conference. “This is a tragic situation. Any time we use force, it’s not the desired outcome. Any time we use fatal force, it’s the worst outcome.”
The five officers who fired their weapons have been placed on administrative leave, White said. The officers names are not released.
Burks’ brother, Damondo Anderson, said his sibling was diagnosed with schizophrenia three years ago. Anderson, who called police while his brother was having a mental health episode, can be heard in the body cam footage as he tells officers that his sibling was frantic and he slashed his tires.
Detroit Police executive team director Christopher Graveline said officers responded to two incidents in 2020 when Burks stabbed his siblings.
“In March of 2020, he stabbed two family members, a sister…he stabbed her in both her neck and her hand,” Graveline said at the news conference. “As well as a brother in the top of his head as the brother came to defend the sister.”
Graveline blamed the system for “failing Burks on several occasions.”
“Schizophrenia manifested itself into violent behavior. We have seen a pattern of him being brought to psychological services and being released and not being followed up with taking his medication,” Graveline said.
