A man in his 40s was shot and killed by a Grand Rapids police officer Saturday afternoon after a confrontation that began with a domestic disturbance call and escalated into a neighborhood chase involving Molotov cocktails, an attempted carjacking, and a stabbing of a police K-9. Michigan State Police has taken over the investigation.

The call that started it all

Around 1 p.m. Saturday, the Grand Rapids Police Department responded to the 1000 block of Alpine Avenue NW after receiving a call from a person reporting that a family member was armed with a knife and threatening to harm the family, according to GRPD Interim Chief Joe Trigg.

When officers arrived, the man threw a lit Molotov cocktail at a police cruiser, Trigg said. The cocktail struck the vehicle and set it on fire. Officers extinguished the flames.

De-escalation attempts fail

Trigg said officers made multiple attempts to de-escalate the situation. They used a "less lethal impact weapon" on the man, but it did not stop him, according to Trigg.

The man went back inside the home, then came out with a second Molotov cocktail. It is unclear whether the second device was thrown, Trigg said.

While police were trying to evacuate family members still inside the home, the man ran out and began fleeing through the neighborhood.

A chase through the west side

During the chase, the man approached a person in a vehicle and attempted an armed carjacking, Trigg said. Officers believed the suspect was still armed with multiple knives at that point.

The carjacking attempt failed. The man continued running.

Police deployed a K-9 to stop him. When the dog attempted to engage, the man stabbed the K-9 at least three times, Trigg said.

"The K-9 has a head injury, but is expected to recover," Trigg said at a Saturday press conference.

GRPD later confirmed the K-9 had a deep cut that was stitched up. The dog is expected to return home, the department said.

The fatal shooting

The man ran into the backyard of a home in the 1000 block of Widdicomb Avenue NW, near 12th Avenue. He attempted to break into the residence, Trigg said.

He then charged officers with a knife. An officer fired what Trigg believed were four to five shots. The man died from his injuries at the scene.

Officers attempted to render aid, but the man could not be saved, Trigg said.

What neighbors saw and heard

Taylor, a neighbor who lives in the backyard where the shooting occurred, told FOX 17 she was told to stay inside when police arrived in the neighborhood.

"Probably about 15, 20 seconds later, they rushed to the backyard. I heard 'he's here, he's here.' I thought they were in the neighbor's yard because my yard is completely fenced in, and it turns out he was in my backyard, because 5, 10 seconds later I heard gunshots," Taylor said.

Taylor said she saw a police officer standing behind a wooden fence with an assault rifle pointed toward her house.

"There's two bullet holes in my house, one is very close to where the window was that I was standing at, where I saw the police officer, and I was standing right there when the gunshots went off," Taylor said.

She said officers dragged the man's body from under her landlord's porch onto her back porch, leaving blood stains on her cement.

"I was painting my spare bedroom and I was staring out the window, and I was just disgusted and sad, and I was getting more furious," Taylor said. "So I went out there and used my supplies and threw them all away after cleaning it, because who wants that?"

Atlas Denzer, another neighbor on Widdicomb Avenue, told WOODTV she was sitting on her porch when officers yelled at residents to get inside.

"They were screaming, 'Get in your houses, there's a man with a knife,'" Denzer said. "So I'm turning around back to see. There's just people running through the yard, like running through yards, running through the streets."

Denzer said she saw the man sprint through an alley with SWAT officers in pursuit. She heard a dog yelping, followed by what she counted as six gunshots.

What happens next

The officer who fired the shots has been placed on administrative leave, as is department policy following an officer-involved shooting, Trigg said.

Michigan State Police is investigating the incident, which is standard protocol when a Grand Rapids police officer discharges a weapon resulting in injury or death.

GRPD has not released the name of the man who was killed.