ODESSA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — The Ionia County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is waiting to get Michigan State Police’s investigation into an 83-year-old woman being shot and injured near Lake Odessa.
The shooting happened at a home on Bippley Road on the afternoon of Sept. 20. There was an “alleged verbal altercation” and the woman was shot in the shoulder, MSP says. She drove herself to the Lake Odessa Police Department and was then treated and released from the hospital.
A spokesperson for Right to Life of Michigan says the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, is a long-time volunteer with the anti-abortion group.
“She is recovering well and is in good spirits,” spokesperson Anna Visser said.
According to the nonprofit, the woman was shot while going door to door to pass out materials about Proposal 3, a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would ensure reproductive rights, including the right to abortions, in Michigan.
“From her account, the lady that answered the door was upset with her and started screaming at her and as she was walking away, a man from the house who she wasn’t originally talking to came out and shot her,” Visser said.
Right to Life does not give its canvassers a script, Visser said, describing the conversations as “organic and casual.”
“Our message is to always be safe, be respectful, no matter what,” she said.
Visser was unaware of the woman’s schedule that day but said volunteers go out whenever they are available.
“At the end of the day, no one should be shot at for a belief that they have. Everyone has the right to freedom of speech,” she said.
In a statement Monday afternoon, Ionia County Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Butler said that everyone involved had been “identified, cooperated and … interviewed by the police” and that MSP has the gun used in the shooting.
“However, this investigation is not complete and is ongoing,” Butler continued. “Because of this, no warrant request has been submitted to my office and any decision on this case will not come until the further details of facts relevant to this situation are known to the highest level of certainty possible.”