Early on November 26, 2025, law enforcement in Downriver Michigan launched what would become two deeply jarring police‑involved shootings in less than 48 hours — one fatal, one life‑threatening. The first, resulting in the death of 37‑year-old Julias Jones of Trenton, is now the focus of a full investigation by the Michigan State Police (MSP).
Just after 3 a.m., officers from the Trenton Police Department confronted Jones at an apartment complex on Van Horn Road. That encounter followed a manhunt sparked by an earlier shooting at a gentleman’s club in Inkster. According to police, the morning began when a security guard at the club — located at Bogart’s Lounge — was shot in the abdomen during what started as a verbal altercation; police allege Jones fired the shot.
Authorities issued a BOLO for a grey 2022 Ford Edge — Jones’s vehicle — and say officers located it in Trenton before confronting him. In the ensuing exchange, Trenton officers say Jones produced a firearm, prompting them to open fire. He was struck and later pronounced dead at the scene.
While police maintain the shooting was justified, questions linger. Witnesses — including the suspect’s mother — claim Jones did not have a gun raised. A neighbor, quoted by local media, said he heard officers repeatedly shouting, “Let me see your hands,” before multiple gunshots erupted.
For those who knew him, Jones was more than a suspect: he was someone’s son, a friend, a familiar face. 35‑year-old Mary Kemmerling of Dundee — a longtime friend who met Jones in 2017 — described him with soft clarity: kind, loyal, respectful, and “someone’s father, son, brother, and friend.”
“He had a beautiful smile… he was an old soul, but a real soul,” she said, visibly shaken. The clock was ticking on dinner when she heard the news. “I’m devastated that my best friend was killed,” she told reporters, insistently repeating that she didn’t believe he would ever take a life, especially since he feared bullets — he’d been shot himself in 2020, she said.
Just two nights later, on November 28, a second police shooting rocked the region. This time the incident involved the Brownstown Township Police Department. Officers responded to a reported domestic‑violence call around 7:20 p.m. at a residence on Ingram Drive, near Pennsylvania and Inkster roads. Witnesses said the suspect barricaded himself inside an attached garage. When officers approached, they spotted a weapon and requested backup. As the plan to safely extract the suspect unfolded, he suddenly advanced and struck one officer with a hatchet.
In response, the officers discharged their weapons. The suspect was struck, medical assistance was immediately rendered, and he was transported to a local hospital in critical condition. According to the police release, the suspect remained alive as of December 2. The firefight is now under investigation by the Michigan State Police.
Two separate tragedies — one ending in death, the other in a fragile hospitalization — both unfolding under the weight of complex circumstances and community grief. For now, the full truth remains under review. But one thing is clear: lives have been lost or shaken, and two Detroit‑suburb communities are left asking hard questions about violence, vulnerability, and justice.
