Da'Quain Johnson

Da'Quain Johnson, 32, a father of three daughters, was shot three times and killed by a Grand Rapids, Michigan Police Department K-9 officer on February 18, 2026, in an apartment complex parking lot after being chased on his bicycle and attacked by a police dog. Officers said they believed Johnson, who was on parole for a prior weapons conviction, was armed, and that he pointed a gun at an officer during the struggle after falling from his bike; a handgun was recovered near his body. A video released by Johnson's family appeared to show him lying face-down, pinned by an officer and still being bitten by the K-9, in the moments before he was shot. Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker announced on April 2, 2026 that neither officer would be charged, holding the news conference at a Michigan State Police facility roughly seven miles from his own downtown office rather than there. No one has ever been charged in Johnson's death.

Grand Rapids, MI · Kent County

• 2026: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The bicycle pursuit, the K-9 deployment, and the shooting, per Grand Rapids Police Department body-worn camera, dashcam, and witness video, released publicly within days of the shooting.
• Officers pursued Johnson on his bicycle believing he was armed; a K-9 unit was deployed and attacked him after he fell in an apartment complex parking lot.
• A witness video released by Johnson's family appeared to show him on his stomach, restrained by an officer with the police dog still biting him, in the seconds before the fatal shots.
• Police said Johnson had a 9mm pistol loaded with eight rounds, recovered on the ground near his body, and that an officer reported seeing its barrel pointed at him during the struggle.
• Johnson was on parole at the time for a prior weapons violation, which police said may have factored into why he fled.
• The Michigan State Police investigated independently and turned its findings, which were not made public, over to the Kent County Prosecutor's Office.
• Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker announced on April 2, 2026 that the officers would not be charged, stating he could not disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt; he held the announcement at a Michigan State Police facility rather than his own downtown office, which local reporting said some residents believed was intended to insulate him from public backlash.
• The shooting drew renewed local and national attention to the Grand Rapids Police Department's record on fatal police shootings, coming less than four years after the high-profile killing of Patrick Lyoya by a different GRPD officer, whose own prosecution ended in a mistrial the city chose not to retry.

• Whether Johnson in fact pointed a gun at the officer during the struggle, as police maintained, or whether he remained restrained and non-threatening at the moment he was shot, as the family's own released video appeared to show, was never independently tested at any criminal trial since none was brought.
• The specific findings of the Michigan State Police's investigative report, beyond the prosecutor's public summary, have not been made available to the public.
• The identity of the K-9 officer who fired the fatal shots had not been publicly released as of the available reporting reviewed for this summary.

• Wikipedia — “Killing of Da'Quain Johnson” (sourced case history)
• The Trace — “No Charges After Grand Rapids Police Killed Da'Quain Johnson”
• FOX 17 West Michigan (WXMI) — “No charges for GRPD officers in shooting death of Da'Quain Johnson”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs