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Family pleads for answers after son shot by Detroit police
A 20-year-old experiencing a 'mental crisis' had police called by family to assist the individual. According to a witness, the man had a knife that he refused to drop and instead charged at police after a taser was deployed. He was shot and killed.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Days after the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old man in Detroit, questions regarding the circumstances around the incident between police and Porter Burks are still swirling. A police response to reports of a man with a knife turned deadly after he allegedly charged officers who fired several shots, killing him.
Family of Burks have hired an attorney to represent them going forward, saying in a release Burks was shot "over 30 times" during the incident. Police plan to speak about the incident Tuesday afternoon. FOX 2 will stream the press conference live.
Per department policy, multiple officers were placed on administrative leave while officials investigate the shooting.
Family originally called police to the city's west side after Burks had left the residence and was armed with a knife.
According to a witness, Detroit police gave verbal warnings to Burks before using a taser. He then allegedly charged police, prompting them to respond with gunfire.
The family was aware that Burks had issues with mental health and said he had not been aggressive toward them before police were called. His brother Damondo Anderson told FOX 2 that the family had been trying to get him mental treatment when they first discovered Burks with the knife.
MORE: Family pleads for answers after Detroit police shoot and kill man armed with knife
"Just to send EMS out so that they could get him back to mental treatment, that’s all we just wanted him to get back to the mental treatment," said Anderson.
According to Detroit Police Chief James White, officers responded to an apartment in the Littlefield neighborhood around 5 a.m. Sunday for reports of a person with a knife who was experiencing some kind of mental crisis.