A community is demanding answers surrounding the shooting of a Saginaw homeless man.
Milton Hall was well-known in Saginaw, Michigan, according to his family, the same city where his mother and other family members live. He was also mentally ill, according to his mother. A cousin says that Hall had an arrest record for minor offenses, like vagrancy.
Police officials say Hall was "known to be an assaultive person" with "a long history" of contacts with law enforcement, "not only with police from our department but with the county."
The July 1 shooting happened in a parking lot on West Genessee Avenue, a busy commercial strip on the north side of Saginaw. In the video shot by a motorist from across the street, 49-year-old Hall is seen arguing with a half-dozen officers. For more than three minutes, he walks back and forth, and at one time appears to crouch in a "karate stance," according to the man who captured the scene.
Police said Hall had just had a run-in with a convenience store clerk. On the video, he tells police, "My name is Milton Hall, I just called 911. My name is Milton, and I'm p---ed off." When an officer tells him to put the knife down, he responds, "I ain't putting s--t down." He appears unimpressed by a police dog, telling officers, "Let him go. Let the motherf---ing dog go."
Finally, he turns to the left of the frame, where another officer had moved out of view a short time earlier. It's then that the police open fire with a reported 46 shots in a five-second hail of bullets.
The case is under investigation, and neither the state police, nor the prosecutor's office would comment on the case.
