The family of Isaiah Kirby, the Michigan State University student who was shot and killed by police, is not pleased with the video of the shooting shown by the East Lansing Police Department.
According to a statement released by the family's attorney, Teresa A. Caine Bingman, Kirby's family viewed the video evidence of the shooting on Thursday and felt that the video lacked transparency. The family described the video as "highly edited, selectively compiled, and [a] deeply one-sided presentation that raised more questions than answers."
"Nothing shown today justified the level of deadly force used against Isaiah Kirby," Bingman said in the statement. "The presentation did not provide the complete sequence of events, full officer interactions, uninterrupted body camera footage, or the full context necessary for the public to independently evaluate what occurred."
Bingman called the video a "curated narrative" created by the East Lansing Police Department.
The shooting, which occurred on April 15, initially stemmed from an alleged stabbing incident at a business in the area of Lake Lansing and Abbot Roads.
Kirby, an Owings Mills native, was identified as a suspect in the stabbing, according to police.
The situation then escalated into an officer-involved shooting, which resulted in Kirby's death.
According to his family, Kirby was a senior at Michigan State University pursuing a degree in zoology, with concentrations in herpetology and aquarium science.
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Following his death, calls for transparency rang out, with Kirby's family trying to understand what led to the shooting.
His mother, Karyn Kirby, said when she saw her son's body, she counted 17 gunshot wounds, "including multiple wounds to his back."
"I cannot unsee what I saw. I cannot unhear what I heard. No mother should ever have to hear a body bag being unzipped after her child was gunned down in the street by the police. Isaiah is more than a headline or a set of narratives that others are creating," Karyn said. "He was our son. Our brother. Our nephew. Our grandson. Our friend."
In the statement released Thursday, the family once again demanded transparency from the police department, adding they want the release of the "complete, raw, and unedited video evidence."
"When someone is killed by police, the truth cannot be filtered through edited clips, selective camera angles, or a narrative shaped after the fact. The video presented to the family was narrated by the East Lansing Police Chief in a manner that appeared designed to reinforce the narrative advanced by ELPD during their press conference immediately following the April 15 shooting," Bingman said.
Bingman added that her office will continue to pursue all legal avenues to obtain the complete, unedited video of the shooting to "ensure full accountability."
WMAR-2 News reached out to the East Lansing Police Department for comment on the attorney's statement and is waiting to hear back.
The full statement from Bingman can be read below:
Today, the family of Isaiah Kirby viewed what the East Lansing Police Department characterized as video evidence related to the fatal shooting of Isaiah Kirby. What was presented was not transparency. It was a highly edited, selectively compiled, and deeply one-sided presentation that raises more questions than answers. Nothing shown today justified the level of deadly force used against Isaiah Kirby.
The presentation did not provide the complete sequence of events, full officer interactions, uninterrupted body camera footage, or the full context necessary for the public to independently evaluate what occurred. Instead, the family was shown a curated narrative prepared by the very agency whose officers killed Isaiah.
The family and the public have repeatedly demanded the release of the complete, raw, and unedited video evidence. To date, East Lansing Police Department and Michigan State Police have refused to provide that transparency.
When someone is killed by police, the truth cannot be filtered through edited clips, selective camera angles, or a narrative shaped after the fact. The video presented to the family was narrated by the East Lansing Police Chief in a manner that appeared designed to reinforce the narrative advanced by ELPD during their press conference immediately following the April 15th shooting.
Isaiah Kirby was a 21-year-old Michigan State University senior with a bright future ahead of him. He was weeks away from graduation and looked forward to participating in an interview for his dream job. He was a son, a scholar, and a young Black man whose life mattered.
The legal standard in this case is not whether allegations were made against Isaiah. The question is whether deadly force was objectively reasonable and legally justified at the precise moment it was used. Nothing presented today answered that question.
What remains deeply troubling is the extraordinary level of force used, including the number of shots fired and the fact that Isaiah sustained multiple gunshot wounds throughout his body, including wounds to his back. These are critical facts that were neither clearly depicted nor meaningfully addressed in the video presentation. These circumstances demand independent scrutiny and full transparency.
The family deserves the truth. The public deserves transparency. And this community deserves confidence that investigations involving police officers’ use of deadly force are conducted fairly, objectively, and without efforts to shape public narrative through selective presentation of evidence.
Our office will continue pursuing all available legal avenues to obtain the complete, unedited evidence and to ensure full accountability. As our investigation continues, we are asking for the community’s help. Anyone with information, video, or audio related to the events of April 15, 2026 in East Lansing is urged to come forward. Please contact the Justice for Isaiah Kirby tip line at 1-844-9ISAIAH (1-844-947-2424). Even the smallest detail may be critical.
