ROYAL OAK, Mich. - Investigators are trying to piece together the sequence of events that led to a fatal encounter between a Royal Oak police officer and a driver at a White Castle drive-thru on Tuesday night.
The officer has been placed on administrative leave pending investigation by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office. Authorities have not released the man's age or hometown.
Royal Oak Police have identified the man fatally shot as Antonino Thomas Gordon, 27, of Commerce Township. He had numerous contacts with law enforcement, including multiple arrests for operating while intoxicated and disorderly conduct, according to a news release from police. At the time of the incident, the release states, he had a criminal bench warrant for arrest with a bond of $75,000.
The release did not specify the type of crime associated with the warrant.
According to a news release, here is how the events unfolded:
The incident began at about 6 p.m. with a traffic stop on Woodward near 13 Mile. The driver stopped and then sped off, losing the officer in traffic.
Fifteen minutes later, the officer found the suspect, who was driving a BMW, in a White Castle drive-thru at 13 Mile and Coolidge.
The officer approached the suspect and fired his gun at him, striking him, Royal Oak Police Chief Corey O'Donohue said in a statement. The suspect then fled the drive-thru, crashing head-on into a minivan a quarter-mile away on 13 Mile.
"We saw the cop pull up to White Castle, and we saw him get out and draw his gun immediately. We heard four or five gunshots," WDIV reported one witness saying. "We could see him swerving and driving really slow, and he looked out of it. And then he just started coasting into oncoming traffic, and I assumed that he passed out."
It is the second fatal Oakland County police shooting this week.
On Monday, 23-year-old Robert George Issa of Troy was fatally shot by Troy police officers after he attempted to attack them with knives.
The officers that responded to the Troy incident also are on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.
Contact Brandon Patterson: BPatterson2@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @iAmBrandonPatt
