14-03-2025
Warren police: Man with knife fatally shot by police told officers to 'shoot me'
Warren police released Thursday portions of a 911 call and some body-worn camera video from a fatal officer-involved shooting earlier in the week, indicating officers were warned the man would use a knife that he had on them, that they repeatedly yelled for him to get on the ground and he said to "shoot me."
The police commissioner, who has been on the job a few months, said the incident shows the crossroads of mental health and domestic violence, two issues that communities and police departments across the country are struggling to deal with.
"This incident was tragic on so many levels," Police Commissioner Eric Hawkins said during a news conference at police headquarters, adding police "don't take this lightly."
Kenneth Beno, 41, of Warren, died after officers fired six shots, with four of them hitting him in the upper body, Police Lt. John Gajewski said.
Hawkins said one officer used a Taser on Beno, but it wasn't effective. Two other officers then fired their firearms. Another officer also was at the scene.
The four officers, who were not named, are on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation. Hawkins said no criminal charges have been filed. He did not know whether any of the officers had been involved in prior officer-involved shootings or had any prior discipline.
Hawkins said the department will handle the investigation internally instead of handing it off to another law enforcement agency. He said the department has the resources and expertise to do it and it's within best practices of agencies accredited within the state. He said the department is one of 15 agencies in the state accredited by the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards.
When asked whether this was a death-by-suicide or death-by-cop situation, Hawkins said: "It certainly looks like it."
Police released a timeline of the events that culminated with the shooting at about 10:15 p.m. Monday at the train tracks near George Merrill Drive and Lorna Avenue. Portions of video from some of the officers' body-worn cameras was shown during the news conference, but the fatal shooting was not shown.
Police said they received a 911 call about 9:58 p.m. from a female in the 27000 block of Railroad, which is near Van Dyke and 11 Mile. She said she believed her ex-boyfriend was armed with a knife, possibly hiding under the bed. She told dispatch he had a pocket knife and "he will pull it on your officers," according to the portion of the 911 call that was released.
More: Officials: Former Detroit police officer charged in fatal accident in Roseville
More: Man with an ice pick fatally shot by Warren police, sparking questions
As officers arrived, she told dispatch that he was running down the railroad tracks toward 12 Mile. A dispatcher is heard providing a description of the suspect and "he did state that he will pull a knife on officers."
An officer is heard saying the suspect is pulling the knife. An officer also is yelling for the suspect to get on the ground, adding twice for him to get "on your belly!" according to one of the body-worn camera video pieces shown.
Police said the suspect disobeys the commands, yells that he has a knife and to "shoot me."
Officers are heard repeatedly in the body-worn camera videos telling the suspect to "get on the ground," but he continues walking. Officers can be heard saying "drop the knife" and "Taser, Taser, Taser" with what appears to be a Taser then being deployed.
Police said the Taser was ineffective, the suspect continued to advance and was shot. They said two of the officers walked backward as the suspect advanced. The suspect died of his injuries at a local hospital, police said. No one else was hurt.
Hawkins said when officers first saw the suspect, he was about 100 feet away from them. He was about 12 feet from them when officers fired.
"We stand by our officers in this case," Hawkins said, adding it's an "unfortunate use of force," but said officers had "no choice but to protect themselves from harm from this person."
Police said Beno had warrants in Macomb County Circuit Court and 37th District Court for assaulting police, domestic violence and disorderly conduct. They also said he has convictions for disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct and domestic violence.
Police said there have been numerous police contacts with Beno, including domestic violence-related calls for service and mental health-related contacts, some of which involved suicidal attempts or statements that required officers to petition him for mental health treatment at area hospitals.
Hawkins said weeks before the shooting, the department looked at data related to violent crime in the city. He said it found that over half of the aggravated assaults were felony assaults in the last two years, with a domestic violence nexus. Almost 70% of homicides, he said, had a domestic violence nexus during this period of time.
Last year, he said, police responded to more than 1,500 calls for service involving people who have mental illness. This year, he said, the department has responded to more than 270 calls for service involving people with some sort of mental health challenge, about four calls per day.
Hawkins said the force is in the infancy stages of a program to help people in the community and the police department regarding domestic violence. It also has begun the process of developing a crisis intervention team program that eventually will train all of the force's officers on how to interact with people who have mental health challenges.
Officers also started emotional intelligence training earlier this year to help them recognize, understand and manage their own emotions and understand those of others, including the community they serve.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@ Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.
Support local journalism. Subscribe to the Free Press.
Submit a letter to the editor at
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Warren PD: Man with knife who was fatally shot told officers to 'shoot me'
