The Da’Quain Johnson shooting out of Grand Rapids, Michigan is a case that the media, activists, and at least one elected official have done their level best to spin into something it isn’t. So let me give you what the evidence actually shows.
What Officers Knew Before Contact
February 18, 2026. 9:30 at night. Southeast Grand Rapids. Officers develop information that a man on a bicycle is armed. Exactly how that information came in wasn’t fully nailed down at the press conference, but the Chief indicated it was likely officer-initiated. Either way: they believed this man had a gun, and they moved to stop him.
Their decision to approach was based on one thing — the belief he was armed. That’s a lawful basis for a stop.
The Legal Standard — Graham v. Connor: Under Graham v. Connor — the controlling Supreme Court standard — officers are judged on what they knew at the moment of their decision. Not what investigators learn afterward. What the officers knew at the time of contact is the legal and factual foundation of this entire case. Keep that in mind for everything that follows.
He Ran
Officers attempt the stop. Lights and sirens on. Loudspeaker order to stop issued directly from the cruiser. Johnson looks back — you can see it on the dashcam. He knows they’re there. He rides away.
That’s the first decision point in this case. He had a choice. He ran. And when a man you believe is armed decides to run from police, everything that follows happens in that context. The threat level just went up.
The Pursuit, the K-9, and the Ground Engagement
Officers pursue. Johnson rides into the parking lot of Eastern Lofts apartments on Eastern Avenue SE. He tries to jump off the bike. He slips on ice and goes to the ground.
The K-9 is deployed. Outstanding deployment, frankly. The dog takes Johnson to the ground and gets his left arm. This detail matters and almost nobody is talking about it. The dog has the left arm. For most people, the right hand is the dominant hand. The right hand is the gun hand. The dog is not controlling the right arm.
On body camera, you can hear officers ordering Johnson to show his hands. Then one officer calls out: “He’s reaching with his right arm.” The second officer moves in to physically grab and secure it. That officer jumps back.
“He’s got a gun.”
“Stop reaching man, you’re going to get shot.”
Three shots fired. Johnson struck in the chest and torso. Transported to the hospital. Pronounced dead early the next morning.
“I Saw the Barrel Pointed Straight at My Face”
Immediately after firing — on camera, before any lawyer, before any debrief, before any coaching — the officer states:
“I saw the barrel pointed straight at my face.”
That statement is at the 6:14 mark of the GRPD press conference video on YouTube. The officers’ attorney had to call it out specifically because almost nobody in the media was reporting it. Everybody was focused on the bystander clip. Nobody was talking about that.
A gun was recovered at the scene. Not nearby. Not a few feet away. Underneath Johnson’s body. Chief Winstrom confirmed it. GRPD released a crime scene photograph of it. Johnson was a convicted felon. That firearm in his possession was a crime before the chase ever started.
The Bystander Video — What It Shows and What It Doesn’t
There is a bystander video that circulated before the body cam footage was released. This is the video that got the NAACP involved and generated the “execution” narrative on social media. Let me address it directly.
The bystander video shows Johnson face-down on the ground. It shows the officer firing. What it does not show is what Johnson’s right hand was doing in the seconds before the shot. The video starts mid-sequence. It doesn’t capture the reaching. It doesn’t capture “he’s got a gun.” It’s a piece of the picture — not the whole picture.
I’ve seen the comments online: “You can’t see the gun on the body cam.” Correct. You can’t. Here’s why that doesn’t mean what people think it means. Body cameras sit on your chest. They look straight ahead. When you’re on top of a subject on the ground at close range, the camera angle is not going to show you the suspect’s hands underneath his body. The Chief acknowledged this directly. The gun was found underneath Johnson — that’s where the camera couldn’t see. That’s also where the gun was when it was pointed at the officer’s face.
My Assessment: This Shooting Gets Cleared
I’ve investigated OIS cases. I know what a clear case looks like. This is one.
Legally, there is no problem here. Officers had lawful basis to stop an armed subject. Subject fled. Subject went to the ground. Subject was actively reaching for a gun with his free hand while a K-9 controlled the other. Officer identified the gun pointed at his face. Gun was recovered under the body.
Policy-wise — and I’ll note I don’t know Grand Rapids PD’s specific policies inside and out — this was handled well. Good communication throughout the engagement. Commands given. De-escalation attempted. K-9 deployed to reduce officer injury risk. These officers went home to their families that night. That’s the job.
The Michigan State Police are handling the investigation. Kent County Prosecutor will review. Let the process run. It will get there.
The Chief Did His Job
I’m usually pretty hard on police chiefs and departments when they fumble these situations. I want to give Chief Winstrom credit here. He released footage specifically to counter the misinformation spreading on social media. He stood up for his officers and laid out the facts at the press conference. He didn’t cave to the pressure. He let the evidence speak.
That’s not always the default response when a shooting goes political. He did it right.
The Mayor of Grand Rapids — A Study in Bad Leadership
Now let’s talk about Mayor David LaGrand.
The mayor held a community meeting after the shooting. He said he couldn’t comment on the active investigation — fair enough, that’s appropriate. But then he used the meeting to run the counter narrative anyway, because if you’re not saying what actually happened, you can run with whatever’s on the street.
Two quotes. Both on the record.
On K-9 use:
“It is time that we ask, what are dogs good for. If my dog did what I saw in that video, I’d put my dog down.”
Mayor — this isn’t your dog. It’s not a pet. Police K-9s are law enforcement tools deployed specifically so that officers don’t get killed. Sending a dog onto an armed man who is actively fleeing and resisting is the whole point. The dog makes the contact so the officer doesn’t get shot. That dog did exactly what it was supposed to do. Your comment tells me you don’t understand that at all.
On gun ownership:
“I think as a community we need to start having some shaming around gun possession. I think if you’ve got a gun you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Mayor, your city has armed parolees riding around at night. The citizens in those neighborhoods have every reason to arm themselves for their own protection. That comment tells your residents everything they need to know about whose side you’re on.
The mayor left the meeting without taking additional questions. That tells you the rest.
Here’s the thing about mayors and police chiefs that people need to understand: in most cities, the mayor has significant influence over who sits in the chief’s chair. Police chiefs answer to mayors. When you have a cop-hating mayor running a city, that’s the environment the chief has to operate in. That’s why I always tell guys looking at a law enforcement career — consider a Sheriff’s Department. You get an elected official who answers to the voters directly, not a mayor who answers to activists.
Kent County Commissioner Robert Womack
Commissioner Womack publicly circulated the bystander video and compared this case to George Floyd. A parolee running from police with an illegal firearm who points it at an officer’s face is the same as George Floyd to this man. That tells you everything about the lens being applied here — and it has nothing to do with the facts of this case.
What the Mob Narrative Actually Cost — An Innocent Family
I want to close with this.
A man named Michael Buxton, 44 years old, went on Facebook and posted what he believed was the identity of the officer who fired. He was wrong. Completely wrong. The man he named lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan — hours away from Grand Rapids — and has absolutely no connection to GRPD.
The post included the innocent man’s name and home address. His wife’s name. His family members’ names. The addresses of the schools his children attend. Called him a “dirty racist police officer” who drove five hours a day to kill Black people. A separate “wanted poster” went up with the words “by any means necessary.”
That innocent family received threats. They left their home.
Michael Buxton was arrested. He’s facing two felony charges — up to six years in prison. He’s out on a thousand-dollar bond.
This is what the mob narrative produces. An innocent man’s family — people with no connection to this shooting, no connection to Grand Rapids PD, nothing — driven out of their house by a wanted poster built on a lie. That’s not justice. That’s what happens when people decide they already know what happened before the investigation is complete. Before the autopsy. Before all the footage is reviewed. Before any facts are established.
The process exists for a reason. Let it work.
One More Thing — The Clickbait Homicide Headline
Right before I recorded the video, I saw a Fox 17 headline out of Grand Rapids: “Da’Quain Johnson’s cause of death listed as homicide.”
Sounds ominous. Here’s what Fox 17 either doesn’t know or is counting on their audience not to know: all police shootings are listed as homicides. Any time one person kills another person — it’s a homicide. The medical examiner’s classification has nothing to do with whether it was legally justified. A homicide finding and a legally justified use of force are not mutually exclusive. They happen together all the time. That headline is either ignorance or it’s intentional. Either way it’s irresponsible.
Convicted felon. Illegal firearm. Ran from police. Pointed a gun at an officer’s face. Gun found under his body. This one gets cleared.
The investigation is running. Let it finish.
