The Michigan Attorney General’s Office has cleared six Michigan State Police troopers of wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of Eric Michael Fiddler, a fugitive who killed a Hillsdale County sheriff’s deputy before being gunned during a manhunt last summer.
State prosecutors determined the troopers acted in self-defense when they opened fire on the 34-year-old man on June 27, 2024, in a wooded area near Jonesville in southern Michigan. The Attorney General’s Office said it reviewed investigative reports, body-worn cameras footage, autopsy findings, and other evidence before deciding not to file charges.
“Law enforcement officers have the same privilege of self-defense as anyone else,” the AG’s office said in a statement. “Shooting a gun in self-defense requires an honest and reasonable belief that an officer is in danger of being killed or seriously injured. If that person’s belief was honest and reasonable, they can act immediately to defend themselves.”
The deadly confrontation followed a traffic stop earlier in the day, when Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Deputy William Butler pulled over a vehicle on Beecher Road. Fiddler, a passenger, shot and killed Butler before fleeing into the woods.
Michigan State Police dispatched its Emergency Support Team — which includes six troopers, two K9 officers, and a sergeant — to track fiddler. A tip led authorities to an area near Osseo Road and North Street, where a K9 unit picked up his scent near a shed. Troopers ordered Fiddler to come out, but he failed to respond. When they entered the shed, it was empty.
Minutes later, a trooper spotted Fiddler lying behind a short cement wall about 50 feet away. The trooper ordered him to show his hands, but Fiddler fired his 9mm pistol, according to the AG’s office. The six troopers returned fire, killing him.
Medics were called, but Fiddler was pronounced dead at the scene with a gunshot wound to the head. His pistol was still in his hand, and a fired cartridge casing was found nearby, prosecutors said. A toxicology report showed he had “an extremely high level of methamphetamines” in his system, according to the AG’s office.
As part of standard procedure, state police assigned the case to an investigative team from a different district before referring it to the Attorney General’s Office for review.
No charges will be filed.
