INQUIRY WRAPS UP IN OFFICER'S SHOOTING OF GVSU STUDENT

GRAND RAPIDS -- State police investigators have completed their
inquiry into the March 11 shooting of Grand Valley State University
student Derek Copp, and sent the results to the Kalamazoo County prosecutor.

Lt. Curt Schram, who oversaw the probe following Copp being shot by
an officer with a regional drug team, said Jeffrey Fink will review
the case and decide whether charges are appropriate against the
Ottawa County sheriff's deputy.

The deputy is a 12-year veteran and police have declined to identify
him. He remains on administrative leave.

The prosecutorial review is standard practice in police shootings, as
is the paid leave for the officer, authorities said.

Fink takes control of the case after Ottawa County Prosecutor Ron
Frantz sought a state attorney general's petition to reassign the
decision, since he is on the board of directors of the West Michigan
Enforcement Team.

Copp's attorney, Fred Dilley, said they will have no comment until
the report's details are make public.

Copp, 20, was shot once in the chest as WEMET conducted a drug search
at his off-campus apartment. The victim's father has said his son
raised his hands to shield his eyes from an officer's flashlight.

Police have acknowledged Copp did not have a weapon and made no
threatening gestures toward the drug team, which found a small amount
of marijuana in the apartment, Copp's attorney has said.

Copp spent more than a week in the hospital recovering from the
bullet wound that fractured two ribs, hit a lung and his liver. He
tried to return to classes at GVSU, but breathing trouble landed him
back in the hospital last Friday.

He since has been released and returned home with his parents.