Sterling Heights police officer will not face charges in fatal shooting

STERLING HEIGHTS/MOUNT CLEMENS — A Sterling Heights police officer who shot and killed a distressed man last month was cleared of any wrongdoing following a Macomb County Sheriff’s Office investigation.

According to a Jan. 7 news release, the investigation “found no evidence to support criminal charges against the officer involved. The Macomb County Sheriff’s Office has concluded that the use of force utilized in this incident was justified. The force utilized by (the) Sterling Heights Police Officer conforms to Michigan law, as well as applicable agency policy, standards, and guidelines.”

The officer, who was not identified, was placed on leave along with other officers involved in the incident, per departmental policy. Sterling Heights police did not respond to an email seeking comment before press time.

The incident occurred Dec. 3 at a condominium in the 44000 block of Apple Blossom Drive in the northwest part of the city, where police responded to a welfare check requested for 54-year-old Nicolas Reinaldo Quaranta, who had made threats indicating an intent to shoot himself.

The Sheriff’s Office release says responding officers and trained crisis negotiators spent more than an hour communicating with Quaranta to de-escalate the situation. During the encounter, Quaranta pointed a firearm to his own head and threatened to point the firearm at officers.

Quaranta eventually sat at the top of a staircase inside the condominium and repeatedly refused requests from officers to come down the stairs and exit the building. Eventually, according to the news release, Quaranta “stood up, bent over, retrieved his firearm, and raised it toward officers, at which point an officer discharged his weapon.”

Afterward, officers immediately called for medical assistance and rendered aid. Quaranta was pronounced dead at the scene. No officers were injured during the incident.

A video posted on the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page shows body camera footage from the final minute of the encounter where Quaranta can be seen reaching downward at the top of a staircase strewn with cardboard boxes and picking up a gun, followed by the officer firing.