A Michigan man has been shot and killed by state troopers after he pointed a laser and opened fire on a police helicopter.
According to the New York Post, authorities have said that the incident happened on Tuesday (January 24) evening at around 8:30PM when the chopper circled downtown Detroit.
The man - identified as a 33-year-old from the Detroit suburb of Lincoln Park - was at an abandoned home when he began pointing a laser at the police helicopter.
In the video released by Michigan State Police, the man emerged from the second-story window and pointed a green laser at the aircraft. The pilot then told the dispatcher: "We got somebody hitting us with a green laser on the rear of the house, upper window."
Watch the video released by Michigan State Police:After a few minutes, the man left the house and aimed a "long gun" toward the hovering helicopter before opening fire. The pilot continued: "Now there's somebody standing at the back door. Right now, they're in the backyard. He actually might, he might be armed."
"He almost looks like he's holding a long gun pointed at us right now. Yeah, he's shooting at us right now. He's firing rounds. He's got a long gun, extended magazine," they added.
The suspect was then hit and killed by two state troopers who responded to the house. It has not been disclosed how many shots were discharged by cops and the suspect during the encounter, per Fox News.
Speaking about the incident to Fox 2 Detroit, Michigan State Police Lieutenant Mike Shaw explained: "If the pilot had been blinded and crashed into this neighborhood, it would have been a lot worse," adding: "People don’t realize the seriousness of firing a laser at our aircraft or any aircraft."
"Troopers returned fire," he said about the troops shooting the now-deceased man. "The suspect was hit and went down. We had our emergency support team show up and went up to approach the house. There were concerns because he was still armed and was laying there."
Afterward, authorities attained search warrants so they went into the abandoned home and recovered five firearms, including the one the suspect had used to shoot at the helicopter.
"They found multiple weapons and ammunition stashes throughout the home as if it were set up for some type of ambush or security purposes or whatever," Shaw revealed.
"Anybody that thinks that that’s a joke or you’re just trying to see what would happen, the potential there is bringing that aircraft down," he added.
According to the outlet, the police have not discovered a motive yet, but, a neighbor informed them that the man recently moved in with a dog, which is now under animal control.
The helicopter was not damaged during the shooting and the two officers that killed the suspect are being identified as a two-year veteran and a nine-year veteran of the department.
Both state troopers are on leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
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