Grand Rapids, Michigan

From Grand Rapids‘ WOODtv.com of June 21, 2005

Burglar shot and killed by hostage; two other intruders arrested

Grand Rapids Police have arrested two men in connection with a robbery in which a third intruder was shot and killed.

Twenty-three-year-old Ian Johnson was shot and killed by a resident of the Charles Avenue home that had been tied up. The resident broke free around 3 a.m., got a gun away from one of the suspects and shot him.

Around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, police arrested one of the other suspects who police say broke into the home with Johnson near the corner of Bridge and Monroe in downtown Grand Rapids. The third intruder was arrested later Tuesday.

Police say the suspects broke into the house in the overnight hours, searching for drugs and money, when they then took two men hostage. They bound and gagged the men by using duct tape and some wire.

Elma Robinson, who was on her way to the bus stop at the time, says she saw one of the victims describing to police what had happened.
"He said he shot two of them when he got his hands loose," she said.

Police say one of the victims was pistol-whipped during the ordeal. "One had a head wound. He was transported to the hospital," said Capt. Jeffrey Hertell of the Grand Rapids Police Department.