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“It’s great that the cooperation between our investigative staff and the Prosecutor’s Office allowed us to reach a conclusion as quickly as we did,” Sterling Heights Police Public Information Officer Lt. Robert Henigan said.

Police were called to a home in the 37000 block of Durham Drive at 6:45 a.m. on July 12, where the female resident said she and her live-in boyfriend, Roy Lee Long, 30, were arguing; she said Long threatened to shoot her cat.

When police arrived at the complex near 16 1/2 Mile Road and Van Dyke, Sterling Heights Interim Police Chief Michael Reese said Long walked out of the apartment with a 12-gauge shotgun, refused to drop the weapon after police ordered him to do so several times and appeared to raise his shotgun toward officers.

“He was yelling at officers, ŒShoot me, shoot me, shoot me,’” Reese previously said.

Two of the seven officers on the scene at the time fired several rounds at Long, killing him.

“Only two officers were in a position where it was safe to discharge their weapons without causing any unintended injury or damage,” Henigan said.

Those officers, whose names are not being released by police, were put on standard paid leave while the Sterling Heights Criminal Investigation Bureau and Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office conducted joint investigations.

The police department’s investigation concluded Aug. 8 and the results from the prosecutor’s investigation were revealed Aug. 18. Both reviews came to the conclusion that the use of deadly force was necessary in the incident.

“These investigations went smoothly,” Henigan said. “(The officers) were put into a situation where they had no choice.”

The two officers were able to return to work on their next regularly scheduled shifts.