Death by Cop- 2022
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Porter Burks
Case # :1462
Gender : Male
Age : 20
Race : Black
Date : 10/02/2022
Location : Snowden+Lyndon St
City : Detroit
County : Wayne
State : Michigan
Agency : Detroit PD
Officer(s) :Not Disclosed
Cause of Death : Gunshot
Event : Killed by police during mental health welfare check
Disposition : Justified by DA
Open Records Summary :
Detroit PD responded to a call from the family of Porter Burks, informing them of a mental health crisis and that he wanted to get back to “medical treatment.” Police arrived and allegedly found Burks carrying a knife. Police allege he “lunged” at them, whereupon 4 officers fired shots and killed him with 38 shots in 3 seconds. Police released heavily edited parts of BWC recordings in which all vital parts have been edited out. The claim that Burks lunged at police with a knife cannot be confirmed and is not seen on the video police released, an odd fact considering police justified the killing with the claim of Burks “lunging” with a weapon. The Wayne County DA declared the killing as Justified.