Detroit Prosecutor Decides Fatal July Shooting of Hakim Littleton Was Done in Self-Defense

Detroit police officers will not face charges for their involvement in the fatal shooting of Hakim Littleton, a 20-year-old Black man who died during an altercation with law enforcement last July.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced her office's decision regarding the case on Wednesday, following an extended investigation to which the Michigan State Police, the Detroit Police Department's homicide task force, and county prosecutor's office contributed. A public integrity unit at the prosecutor's office conducted an independent review of the case.

"Our finding today is that the officers in this case acted with lawful self-defense of self and others, and thus there will be no charges in this particular case," said Worthy during a press conference held on Wednesday, coinciding with the release of her office's decision.

"We have to rely directly on the facts and evidence," she continued. "It is not unusual for there to be misinformation in different cases that we're doing. In this case though, there was jut so much misinformation about what occurred."

The July shooting was recorded by officers' body-worn cameras. While comments circulated on social media in its aftermath that suggested Littleton was not armed when police fatally shot him, Worthy said the prosecutor's office determined that was false, and Littleton fired his own gun in officers' direction multiple times.

For additional reporting from the Associated Press, see below:

Littleton was shot after Detroit officers investigating a July 5 gang-related shooting that left three people dead and five wounded stopped an acquaintance of his on the city's west side.

The acquaintance didn't resist while being taken into custody on a narcotics warrant and police cameras showed Littleton, 20, initially appearing calm, even raising his hands before suddenly reaching into his pocket, pulling out a semi-automatic pistol, pointing and shooting it at an officer as they faced each other.

Soon afterward, dozens of protesters converged at the site of the shooting, yelling at police and chanting "Black Lives Matter" and "Defund DPD!" The shooting came as demonstrations were being held in Detroit and other cities following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Detroit police Chief James Craig has said the officer closest to Littleton hadn't even had a chance to pull his own weapon before the shooting started. A number of shots were fired over a span of seconds. Craig said Littleton continued to fire after he fell to the ground.

Littleton was shot once in the head and three times in the thighs. No officers were wounded.

Littleton, who was on probation for an unarmed robbery, seemed to say something about not allowing officers to arrest his friend before he began firing, Craig said at the time of the shooting. Officers had no intention of arresting Littleton before the shooting started, he said.

Craig said following the shooting that he released the videos promptly because of what he described as rumors about the shooting, which he said included erroneous social media postings that Littleton had been unarmed.