The Michigan State University The Pioneer of the Land Grant College sign on the corner of Trowbridge Rd and S Harrison Rd. in East Lansing, MI on March 10, 2026.
The man killed by East Lansing police in an officer-involved shooting last week was a Michigan State University student, an attorney for his family said Wednesday morning.
Isaiah Christopher Kirby, from Owings, Maryland, was a senior studying zoology. He was expecting to graduate at the end of this semester, Kirby’s mother, Karyn, wrote in a statement.
Officers shot and killed Kirby last Wednesday while responding to a theft at a business at Lake Lansing and Abbot Roads, which evolved into an alleged stabbing by Kirby. The police department says officers shot Kirby after he ran towards them and did not follow orders to drop the knife in his hands.
“Based on what his mother personally observed, having counted at least 17 gunshot wounds on her son’s body, including multiple wounds to his back — the use of deadly force in this case must be subjected to the highest level of independent scrutiny,” wrote Teresa Caine Bingman, the attorney representing Kirby’s family.
Michigan State Police is investigating the shooting, as protocol for all officer-involved shootings.
ELPD Public Information Officer Adrian Ojerio and City of East Lansing Communications Director Carrie Sampson did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning.
Bingman alleged that the family was told that video evidence of the shooting would be “compiled and edited before it is shown,” which Bingman called “unacceptable.”
“While our grief is heavy, we are demanding answers based on facts and untouched video and audio evidence that show my son’s alleged involvement in any of the incidents and/or other actions that took place at the scene,” Karyn Kirby wrote in a statement.
Bingman wrote that her office has taken steps to request the preservation of all evidence and will be conducting a “thorough and independent investigation” moving forward.
“A jury may ultimately be asked to determine whether his life was unlawfully taken,” Bingman wrote.
ELPD announced on Tuesday that they have begun reviewing and producing a video timeline of events, which will be shared in the upcoming weeks. The names of the officers involved in the shooting will also be released at the same time.
The stabbing victim, Douglas Mielock, an attorney at law firm Foster Swift, is beginning recovery at home following his release from the hospital last weekend.
The incident occurred roughly two miles north of MSU's campus near the Arbor Glen Apartments complex and The Cottages.
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