PAW PAW, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Jan. 1, 2023) – While most law enforcement entities had a full plate of activities over the New Year’s Eve Holiday evening, two separate incidents had the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department busy overnight.
The first incident occurred around 11:15 PM on Saturday night, when deputies were dispatched to a unnamed residence in Porter Township on a report of a “domestic assault by strangulation.” The department statement afterward only noted that a 49-year-old man who lived there, “was found to be highly intoxicated and uncooperative with answering questions posted by the investigating deputy.”
After statements made by the victim and others at the scene, the man was arrested for probable cause on a domestic assault count, and it was later learned that the suspect had warrants out on child support in Van Buren County and a contempt of court count from Allegan County. The man was taken to the Van Buren County Jail and was awaiting arraignment.
The second incident occurred around 12:05 AM on Sunday, when deputies were dispatched to a residence in the area of 60th Avenue and County Road 681, between Hartford and Lawrence, on a report that one man was shot in the back and another in the head. When they arrived, they found a 40-year-old man dead from that gunshot wound to the head, and a 35-year-old man who would succumb to his wounds at an “area hospital.”
It was determined that the gunplay came from a small New Year’s Eve party at the site in which fireworks were also set off, with a 62-year-old Lawrence man starting the shooting shortly after 12 Midnight. That man was arrested on initial charges of reckless discharge of a firearm causing death, with more charges possible following further investigation.
