Authorities are investigating the killing of a 32-year-old man found dead Sunday morning in Traverse City, and they believe it’s connected to an incident in which two teens fled and shot at police on Saturday night.
Traverse City police said in a statement they responded to a report of a dead body at 7:48 a.m., in the 300 block of East State Street.
There, they found 32-year-old Lawrence Boyd IV dead from an apparent gunshot wound. Boyd was an employee of the city’s parking services department, though the police statement did not say whether that was relevant to the investigation.
Traverse City police statement from Sunday evening:
The statement gave no more specifics, but police said evidence found at the scene leads them to believe the killing is connected to an incident the night before, when police were shot at while investigating theft from a vehicle.
That incident drew an enormous police response along Munson Avenue on Saturday night, with authorities telling nearby residents to shelter in place and to not answer the door for anyone they don’t know.
Northwestern Michigan College was also briefly placed on lockdown.
Police were investigating a report of larceny from a vehicle at about 10 p.m. Saturday, in the 1200 block of East Eighth Street. Officers approached two people who matched the suspect descriptions in a parking lot a short distance away — the 100 block of Munson Avenue.
Traverse City police statement regarding Saturday night's events, issued early Sunday morning:
The two suspects fled on foot and, police said, during the chase one of them pulled a gun and fired at officers.
Neither the officers nor the suspects were injured in that shooting, but police said a round did hit the pantleg of one officer.
Two male suspects, ages 17 and 18, are in custody at Grand Traverse County Jail.
Police said Sunday evening that the investigation into the homicide is ongoing and that there is no current threat to public safety.
We will update this story as more information becomes available.
