Three Washtenaw County deputies who fatally shot Navy veteran John Jenuwine will not face criminal charges, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office announced Thursday, Nov. 5.

The deputies fired approximately 34 times into Jenuwine’s overturned van in Ypsilanti on Jan. 6 after a 14-minute chase. No gun was found inside the vehicle. The attorney general’s office concluded the deputies acted lawfully in self-defense because their mistaken belief that they faced an imminent deadly threat was reasonable under Michigan’s Self Defense Act.

The decision concludes the attorney general’s criminal review but does not resolve the family’s civil claims. A federal lawsuit filed by Jenuwine’s family remains pending, and Washtenaw County Sheriff Alyshia Dyer confirmed an internal investigation is underway, according to MLive. Four deputies placed on leave after the shooting will remain on leave, Dyer said.

What happened Jan. 6

Between 1 and 2 a.m., multiple 911 callers reported a white construction van driving erratically in Ypsilanti, according to the attorney general’s office. One caller relayed an allegation that a gun had been waved at his wife; the caller had not witnessed it himself. Dispatch relayed the descriptions and indicated a handgun was in the van.

Deputies spotted a matching van at 1:53 a.m. driving without headlights. Jenuwine, 34, of China Township, fled the attempted traffic stop.

The attorney general’s memorandum acknowledges that the gun-related report described two Black men, while deputies determined Jenuwine was a white man traveling alone and broadcast that information.

During the chase, Jenuwine reversed toward deputies’ vehicles multiple times, forcing two to back up to avoid collisions, the attorney general’s report states. He also drove on the wrong side of the road.

At 2:06 a.m., a deputy performed a precision immobilization technique, or PIT maneuver, causing the van to partially roll onto its side. Deputies approached on foot. One deputy, looking through the windshield into the lit interior, shouted “he’s got a gun, he’s got a gun, he’s got a gun, gun, gun,” according to the attorney general’s report. Another deputy repeated the call. Three deputies then opened fire.

The three who fired were Deputies Von Heath, Jacob Cuso and Gabriel Bechtol, the report states. Investigators recovered 34 shell casings. Heath may have fired up to 19 shots, more likely 16 or 17, Cuso up to 17 and Bechtol approximately three, according to the attorney general’s warrant denial memorandum written by Assistant Attorney General Brendan Sawyer. The individual counts are estimates because investigators could not establish how fully the deputies’ magazines had been loaded.

No gun found

Michigan State Police evidence technicians processed the van and found no firearm. The van contained significant debris, some of it long and black, likely scattered when the vehicle rolled, the attorney general’s office stated. The memorandum identifies a snow scraper and an approximately 2-foot-long silver drill bit among the van’s contents. The report does not say whether deputies saw and misidentified those objects.

The autopsy documented seven gunshot wounds. The Washtenaw County Medical Examiner determined two wounds, to the chest and groin, would have caused death within seconds to minutes, according to the report. Jenuwine had high levels of cocaine in his body at the time of his death, the medical examiner found. The examiner concluded cocaine did not contribute to his death. She could not determine whether earlier medical intervention would have changed the outcome.

Deputies treated the scene as a barricaded gunman situation. Ann Arbor Police Department officers responded, and a negotiator tried to reach Jenuwine by megaphone and telephone. Around 4 a.m., officers entered the van and determined Jenuwine was dead.

Why no charges

The attorney general’s office applied Michigan Criminal Jury Instruction 7.15, which states a person may act in self-defense “even if it turned out later that [he/she] was wrong about how much danger [he/she] was in.”

The office concluded it could not demonstrate that the deputies’ belief that Jenuwine was armed was unreasonable, given the 911 reports, the erratic driving and the chase. The review examined police reports, 911 calls, body camera footage, dash camera video and the medical examiner’s report. It did not examine any civil complaints filed in the case.

Family lawsuit continues

Jenuwine’s family filed a federal lawsuit in June alleging excessive force. An amended complaint filed Sept. 25 in U.S. District Court names eight deputies, including the three who fired, and adds claims of deliberate indifference to medical need and assault and battery.

The amended complaint alleges the three deputies who fired “have never given an account of what they saw or why they shot” and that each filed a report stating only “No Narrative.”

Flood Law, the firm representing the family, and the Jenuwine family declined to comment on the attorney general’s announcement, MLive reported.

Jenuwine’s mother, Kelly Jenuwine, said in June: “Their incompetence cost our son his life and has devastated our family forever,” according to The Eastern Echo.

Dyer, the sheriff, extended condolences to the family. “We respect that the people we serve will have varying perspectives on the Attorney General’s decision,” Dyer said in a statement released Nov. 5, according to MLive.

The federal court set a Nov. 13 deadline for the defendants to answer the complaint, MLive reported.