Prosecutor’s Office deems fatal Village Green shooting as justifiable homicide

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. – The St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office has determined that the officer-involved shooting death of 37-year-old Michael Haas was a justifiable homicide.

On January 31, police were called to the Village Green Mobile Home Park Neighborhood twice for reports that a man was threatening others with a firearm.

According to police, Haas fired a gun and Mishawaka police officer Pfc. Garrett Schock returned fire.

Haas was taken to the hospital where he later died.

The South Bend Police Department conducted the investigation since officers from the Mishawaka Police Department, the St. Joseph County Police Department, and the Indiana State Police were involved in the call that resulted in Haas being shot.

According to the investigation, witnesses told police that Haas had arrived at a neighbor’s house with a long gun and threatened the home’s occupants.

Haas then left that home, put the gun in a vehicle, and returned to his own trailer home.

When officers went to his home, Haas allegedly refused to come out or speak with officers.

The officers left but then returned for a second dispatch call that said Haas was threatening others and had fired his gun, reports said.

Officers from the three departments took cover around the home and repeatedly asked Haas to exit the home without a weapon, according to reports.

Haas then exited the home with a long gun and fired the weapon, according to witnesses and body camera footage.

Pfc. Schock then returned fire, according to reports.

A forensic pathologist determined Haas’s cause of death as a gunshot wound.

Charges will not be filed against the officer involved.