As we sympathetically mourn the death this weekend of two seasoned Westerville, Ohio police officers shot in the course of responding to a domestic situation involving a dangerous man, we continue to investigate what happened in Manistee to Lee Pat Milks, who was shot nearly a year ago in his home by a Manistee police officer, Doug Vansickle (both pictured below).  

A Ludington Torch member in good standing asked me to provide details of what I had said was conflicting official stories relating what happened at the incident.  To do this, I have reviewed numerous stories that appeared locally, nationally, and even internationally regarding this shooting.  As many media effectively parrot what other media and news organizations print, I ferreted out all of the essentially the same articles.  Many followed the template of the Associated Press, which is typical in the news business.  

In the end I drew from a baker's dozen of news articles that came out immediately after the shooting and then compare the general consensus of them with what was said at the Manistee news conference held late in the afternoon just before the Fourth of July weekend, seemingly to make the story vanish between news cycles.  That official strategy worked, only a few news agencies covered the story, most in little detail since the story was essentially what was related earlier.  This article will look at those little differences that appear to be substantial when you consider that all Manistee authorities still are actively withholding FOIA requests for records from the incident.  Here are links to the original 14 sources used:  

1) WZZM TV

2) Upnorth Live TV 7&4

3) Shoreline Media (COLDNews)

4) Interlochen Public Radio

5) Time Magazine

6) WOOD TV

7) UK Daily Mail

8) WUPM News

9) Detroit Free Press

10) WWMT Channel 3

11) TV 9&10

12) Manistee Co Press

13) Mlive

Some of the differences may be ascribed to some media leaving some material on the cutting room floor, but not all.  Here's what my investigation uncovered (abbrevations: LPM: Lee Pat Milks, UO: Unnamed officer, CDB: Chief David Bachman, CE: code enforcement):

1) UO doing CE when he came across LPM with a rifle in his hand, who ordered the officer to get away.  UO called for backup, and LPM refused to put down his weapon.  LPM began to put a bullet in the chamber of the gun and started to aim it at UO. UO responded by shooting Milks.

2) UO doing blight enforcement, LPM came out of the house, brandishing a long gun. LPM ordered UO away from the area and additional officers were called in.  "So the UO tried to de-escalate the situation he tried to say, 'you know Lee it doesn't have to happen this way', the guy chambered a round, started swinging at towards officer, and the officer engaged and fire rounds," said CDB.

3) Nothing about CE.  LPM brandished a long gun at an UO, telling him to get away from the area, then chambered a round.  LPM was bringing his weapon, which was loaded, up to point at the UO when the UO used his handgun to shoot Milks.

4) CDB says the officer was conducting “blight enforcement” when he saw an old bus parked in Milks’ backyard.  “He made contact with the owner of the bus and asked to take a look at it,  The guy said ‘sure’ and went back in his house and came back out with a rifle.  LPM told the UO to leave his property while he chambered a round in the AK-47-style rifle. The UO fired multiple shots." 

5) UO was in the area to enforce minor ordinances, an UO opened fire on LPM after LPM came out of his house with a long gun and told the UO to leave.  LPM ignored the UO's orders to drop his weapon and instead loaded it and started pointing it at the UO. He was shot less than 10 minutes after the encounter began.

6) CDB says the UO was conducting ordinance enforcement Tuesday evening when LPM came out of a house with a gun. CDB said LPM told the UO to go away and the UO told him to drop the weapon.
CDB says LPM had “stopped, chambered a round and was bringing the weapon to bear on the UO” when the UO fired multiple times.

7) CDB says the UO conducting CE shot LPM after LPM came out of a house with a gun and told the officer to go away.  CDB says the UO told LPM to drop the gun, LPM had 'stopped, chambered a round and was bringing the weapon to bear on the UO' when the UO fired multiple times. The UO, however, became alarmed when LPM refused his orders to return to his home and began loading his gun.  '[LPM] threatened the UO with [the gun], made verbal exchange, the UO tried to diffuse the situation, asked the guy to go back into the house, he said no and he jacked a round into the chamber and when he jacked a round into the chamber the officer engaged him and it ended badly."

8) CDB says LPM was shot after coming out of his house with a gun and refusing orders to drop the weapon when UO was doing ordinance enforcement in his neighborhood. Investigators say not only did LPM not drop the gun, but he chambered a round and was bringing the long gun up and pointing it at the UO when he was shot.

9) In an earlier release, CDB stated the officer who usually investigates abandoned vehicles and blight complaints was doing CE. He came across LPM with a rifle in his hand, who ordered the UO to get away.  The UO called for backup, and LPM refused to put down his weapon, CDB said.  Before backup arrived, LPM began to put a bullet in the chamber of the gun and started to aim it at the UO. The UO responded by shooting LPM; it did not appear that LPM was able to return fire.

10) CDB says that's exactly what LPM told a UO [Get off my property] who'd come to his home after someone complained about a bus in his backyard.  We're told LPM confronted the UO with an assault rifle. The UO shot LPM several times.

11) CDB says it all started Tuesday night when a UO was investigating complaints about neglected, rundown areas. Police say 73-year-old LPM came out of his home with what appeared to be an AK-47 in hand.  The UO told LPM to put it down, but he refused.  CDB says LPM then loaded the gun and was about to point it at the UO. The UO then shot at him several times.

12) CDB said this officer investigates blight complaints and abandoned vehicles when time permits."  At that time, LPM came out of the house brandishing a long gun. “LPM ordered the officer away from the area.  Additional officers were requested to respond. The suspect refused orders to drop his weapon.  Preliminary reports indicate LPM stopped, chambered a round and was bringing the weapon to bear on the UO. All of this transpired in a very short timeframe before backup arrived.  The UO engaged LPM with his handgun and fired multiple rounds." 

13) According to CDB, a UO was doing CE when LPM came out of a house with a long gun.  The older man told the officer to go away.  The UO called for backup and gave orders to LPM to drop the weapon.  Instead, LPM "stopped, chambered a round and was bringing the weapon to bear on the UO, CDB wrote.  He said the officer then fired multiple rounds.

There are themes, the most consistent is the firings of multiple rounds of bullets into Lee Milks without him getting a shot out.  Twelve mention that the officer was doing or involved with code enforcement operations, and that Milks was either loading or chambering a round in his rifle.  The conflicts are several.

IPR (#4) gives a detailed narrative that has the officer contacting Milks first, the others seem to indicate Milks came out and met the officer for the first time with a gun in his hand.  Milks is said to have told the officer to go away in ten of those accounts, that important bit is left out in three.  What was Milks' guns final status?  Aimed at officer (5), bringing it up to bear(4), swinging it at officer(1), or unstated(3).  No account ever detailed when the officer brought his service pistol to bear.  

Most differences between accounts over substantive issues may be subtle, but some are substantive.  Chief Bachman is the general source for the information coming out over what transpired, yet as he wasn't even at the scene, his information is second hand hearsay and likely provided by an officer looking to save his own bacon, thinking himself the only surviving witness to the events.  The police's reluctance to release any records, even the use-of-force report, concerning this incident becomes extra troubling to the discerning citizen.

With those thirteen accounts, let's compare them with the final result of the investigation given three months later.  UpNorthlive broadcast most of the press conference, here's what was said:

"Mr. Milks responded that Officer Vansickle could inspect the bus, however, he was going to get a gun... (voiceover) police said milks came out of the house waving a gun appearing to be an AK-47 at the officer... Officer Vansickle observed Mr. Milks chamber a round into the rifle.  Mr. Milks stated "I have silver bullets that are going to go through your vest."... (voiceover) Milks ordered the officer away from his property... At this moment Officer Vansickle was standing in front of Mr. Milks and was approximately 5 yards away.  Mr. Milks gritted his teeth, positioned the rifle in the low ready, in a shooting stance, and raised the rifle against the officer.  Officer Vansickle had no cover." 

It still leaves me rather puzzled as to why the tempered glass in the front door was shattered mostly on the outside, why Officer Vansickle would not leave the property or otherwise stand down in a non-official code enforcement inspection, why the variances in the original stories and the final story, and why we never hear what the officer was doing during the whole time, other than not leaving MIlks' private property when asked, and somehow shooting somebody who had a rifle already pointed at him without that man reflexively shooting too.