(WXYZ) — Today, Chief James White held a news conference to discuss the officer-involved shooting of Porter Burks. Officer's body camera footage was played.
The chief said 20-year-old Burks suffered more than a dozen wounds when five Detroit police officers fired 38 shots. Burks had allegedly charged toward officers with a knife.
The incident happened in the area of Snowden and Lyndon near Schaefer on Detroit's west side on Sunday morning just after 5 a.m. At this point, it's unclear how many bullets struck Burks.
RELATED:Family attorney: Man with mental illness shot over 30 times by DPD officers
Burks's family says the 20-year-old suffered from schizophrenia. Police said family called 911 because Burks was having a mental health crisis. When officers arrived, Burks' brother told police that Burks slashed his tires and that he had a knife.
Chief White said officers found Burks a block over, repeatedly told him to drop his knife and said they would get him some help.
Detroit Police Chief James White said Burks failed to obey officers' commands. White says Burks eventually charged one of the officers while holding the knife. A taser was reportedly deployed but did not take effect, and that's when shots were fired.
The chief said the system failed Burks on numerous occasions. In March of 2020, officials say he stabbed two siblings. A sister was stabbed in the neck and hand. A brother was stabbed when he came to his sister's defense. Also in 2020, Burks is reported to have stabbed his 7-year-old stepsister. Lastly, officials say Burks was looking to fight someone. He was taken to a psych ward, escaped and punched an officer when authorities caught up to him.
At a press conference on Tuesday, DPD played some video showing what led up to the incident (warning: the video is graphic):
Fieger Law, now the family's legal team sent a statement saying, " we are working hard to understand how and why a mentally ill citizen, whose family called for help, was tased and then reportedly shot over 30 times."
Watch the DPD press conference from Tuesday in the video player above.
