Shooting of Dante Kittrell by police ruled justifiable homicide

The St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office announced the fatal shooting of Dante Kittrell, 51, by police was a justifiable homicide. 

Kittrell was shot and killed on the property of Coquillard School in July 2022.

The prosecutor's office said there was no evidence police officers on scene knew or could have known the firearm Kittrell possessed was not a real handgun.

The prosecutor's office said it could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt the officers were not acting in self defense or the defense of others.

No criminal charges will be filed.

The prosecutor's office said the first call to 911 came in at 11:36 a.m. from an employee of the school.

The caller told dispatch an armed person was at the school, threatening to commit suicide. The caller stated that people were in danger.

Officers arrived at 11:40 a.m. and located Kittrell four minutes later. When they spoke with him, they did not see any weapons.

Between 11:44 a.m. and 12:29 p.m., officers continued to speak with Kittrell. At 12:29, Kittrell pulled a handgun out of his pocket, then at 12:30 p.m. raised the handgun at the officers, who discharged their weapons, investigators said.

South Bend Police held a press conference Wednesday afternoon explaining details of the investigation.

According to police, four officers fired shots at Kittrell. Kittrell was shot a total of three times.

The gun Kittrell pulled out at the scene was found to be a replica gun.

Police showed body cam footage from officers at the scene on July 29. Footage captured Kittrell asking police to shoot him and saying he wanted to die.

Negotiators and officers can be heard telling Kittrell they don't want to escalate the situation.

Police also addressed a number of community questions that have been circulating since the incident.

Among them were why a mental health crisis team was not called to the scene.

According to police, the mental health crisis team does not respond to situations where an armed person is in that kind of mental state.

The SWAT team truck was called to the scene to provide a barrier for officers and witnesses, Chief Ruszkowski said.

Chief Ruszkowski said a less lethal option like a taser wasn't used because police could not risk getting within the applicable range to disengage Kittrell.

Just before shots are fired, body cam footage captures police ordering non-SWAT officers and negotiators to get back.

Police were positioned in an L-shape at the scene to keep Kittrell from moving toward a highly populated area.

Sheriff Bill Redman said detectives interviewed 39 witnesses, obtained and reviewed 10 body cam videos, 14 dash cam videos and 3 other videos, as well as all police radio traffic and 9-1-1 calls.

Detectives knocked on the doors of 51 homes within sight of Coquillard School's field.



TIMELINE (provided by the prosecutor's office)

At 11:36 a.m., a Coquillard Traditional School official called 911 about an upset, armed, suicidal male subject at the school. While the male was subsequently identified as Dante Kittrell, responding officers did not know the identity of Mr. Kittrell until much later.

At 11:39 a.m., the 911 caller further described the suicidal man as a black male, approximately 40 years old, tall and thin build, wearing a blue shirt and light pants with a handgun. The caller stated that there were people near the subject who were “in danger” and that there would soon be children coming to the school because of the free lunch program.

At 11:40 a.m., the first responding officers arrived at Coquillard School.

At 11:40:30 a.m. (approximately thirty seconds later), responding officers were advised that the armed male was by the baseball field. The 911 caller stated that someone was in danger on the premises and that the armed man was violent and intended to injure himself with the gun.

At 11:41 a.m., the 911 caller told law enforcement that the armed male stated that he had shot himself before in the stomach and had lifted his shirt to show school employees.

At 11:43 a.m., the school employee told dispatch that the armed male had been arguing with a female in a red automobile about 10 minutes earlier. The caller stated that when school employees approached the armed male and the woman, the woman told them that the armed male was upset about something. She then drove away.

At 11:44 a.m., the 911 caller told dispatch that the armed male was pointing the gun at the responding police officers. Dispatch advised the employees to go inside the school.

At that same time, the responding officers had located the “armed man” on the south side of Coquillard School. However, officers did not observe the man display any weapons at that time.

Video evidence depicted an uninvolved citizen walking a dog near Mr. Kittrell. 

At 11:45 a.m., body camera footage captured Dante Kittrell screaming “They’ll have to kill me. I don’t give a f*, I’m ready to die!” Mr. Kittrell can be heard repeating these phrases multiple times during the incident.

At 11:50 a.m., Mr. Kittrell continued to shout that he was ready to die and that “One of you mother f* is going to shoot me dead, do I need to prove it?” Officers voiced that there was something in the front right pants pocket of Mr. Kittrell.

By 11:51 a.m., staff at Coquillard School began moving to the administrative offices, away from Mr. Kittrell.

At 11:51 a.m., officers can be heard telling the armed male that nobody wanted him to get shot. Officers begged Mr. Kittrell to please not put his hands in his pockets. Mr. Kittrell shouted to officers, “Which one of y’all wanna do it?”

At 11:52 a.m., when a responding officer told Mr. Kittrell that “We’re just trying to get you some help, man,” Mr. Kittrell replied, “F* that, you going to have to kill me!”

At 11:54 a.m., police negotiators advised responding officers that they were on their way.

At 12:02 p.m., Mr. Kittrell informed officers he was going to die at 12:42. Officers repeatedly told Mr. Kittrell that they wanted to help him.

At 12:05 p.m., after officers continued to state that they wanted to help him, Mr. Kittrell replied that he didn’t care and that he was going to die.

At 12:06 p.m., Mr. Kittrell told officers he would shoot the police dog and then they’d have to shoot him. He repeated this several times during the incident.

At 12:10 p.m., Mr. Kittrell told officers, “I’m past suicidal, I am ready to die.” Mr. Kittrell told officers that he did not want to deal with one of the officers because that officer didn’t have a “real firearm” (that officer was equipped with a bean bag gun). Mr. Kittrell repeatedly told officers not to try to get a leg shot on him, because he would still get a shot off.

For the first time, Mr. Kittrell identified himself as “Dante.”

At 12:13 p.m., Mr. Kittrell expressed disappointment with the officers, stating, “Y’all really not going to kill me, are you?”

At 12:15 p.m., Mr. Kittrell pointed out an object in his pocket that had the shape of the grip of a handgun and had the outline of a handgun. He asked an officer, “You see the bottom of it? You know what that is, right?” The officer answered, “A gun.” Mr. Kittrell asked, “What kind?” 

At 12:16 p.m., a pastor identified himself to Mr. Kittrell and tried to engage Mr. Kittrell in conversation. Mr. Kittrell told the pastor that, “I want one of these mother f* to kill me!” Mr. Kittrell then can be heard assessing what kind of firearms each officer had.

When police negotiators attempted to engage Mr. Kittrell in conversation, Mr. Kittrell did not respond. Instead, Mr. Kittrell kept addressing other officers about their families, their weapons, and his desire to die.

At 12:22 p.m., Mr. Kittrell became more agitated and began yelling to officers, “Y’all ready? Y’all ready? Let’s go now!”

At 12:24 p.m., Mr. Kittrell told the officers that he knew that if he fired at the officers, they would all open fire.

At 12:25 p.m., Mr. Kittrell became increasingly agitated, yelling at officers, “Fire it! Fire it! Fire it!” and, “End this! End this!” Mr. Kittrell told officers several times that he was going to get a shot off. Officers did not fire, but instead held their positions while the negotiator pleaded with Mr. Kittrell, “Let’s not do this!”

At 12:27 p.m., Mr. Kittrell again began asking officers about their families. He then yelled repeatedly, “If I point my gun at you, putting your life in danger, right? You have to do your job, right? If I point my weapon at you, you have to do your job, right?”

Mr. Kittrell continued, “That shit’s gonna hurt like hell but I’m still gonna get a shot off.” Then Mr. Kittrell said, “Hey, if I run towards him with my weapon out, y’all firing.”

At 12:29 p.m., Mr. Kittrell stated, “These mother f* don’t want to kill me! F* this!”

At this point, Mr. Kittrell pulled out that item that appeared to be a handgun from his pocket.

Officers can be heard yelling, “Gun’s out! He’s got a gun!”

Officers took cover behind their vehicles.

Mr. Kittrell then pointed what appeared to be a handgun at the ground. He then pointed it up in the air.

Mr. Kittrell then pointed that apparent handgun in the direction of officers to his right while looking to his left. Officers did not discharge their weapons at that time.

At 12:30 p.m., the SWAT truck began slowing driving toward Mr. Kittrell. As it moved slowly forward, some SWAT team members followed behind it on foot.

At that point, Mr. Kittrell first lowered the apparent handgun. He then quickly pointed the apparent handgun at officers who were accompanying the negotiator. 

Officers yelled, “Gun’s at us! Gun’s at us!”

Several officers then discharged their firearms at 12:30:07 p.m.

Video evidence shows that Mr. Kittrell fell to the ground. Immediately after Mr. Kittrell fell, officers radioed for medical assistance, stating, “Shots fired, get the medic! Get the medics up here!”

Medics were close by, and at 12:31 p.m., medics began tending to Mr. Kittrell.

By 12:33 p.m., Mr. Kittrell was in an ambulance, running with lights and sirens to the hospital. However, medical personnel were unable to revive Mr. Kittrell.

An autopsy was performed at Western Michigan University’s Homer Stryker School of Medicine. According to a report from the autopsy, Mr. Kittrell was shot three times: one significant graze wound to the head, one wound to the torso, and one wound to the hip area. According to the forensic pathologist, Mr. Kittrell died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Because this incident involved officers from the South Bend Police Department, the Mishawaka and St. Joseph County Police Departments conducted the joint investigation.

Investigators recovered the item that appeared to be a handgun. After a closer examination, investigators found that the item was a highly detailed replica of a tan Glock Model 19 9mm Luger handgun.

The officers who fired their weapons told investigators that they fired when they did because, at that moment, they believed that their lives and those of their fellow officers were in danger from Mr. Kittrell pointing what they believed to be a handgun at them.

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