Stepson in Orion Twp. kills domestic abuser before intruder can shoot his mother, cops say

Police said that a domestic abuser who tried to take a former partner’s life instead lost his own on Wednesday in a case that shows how Michigan’s new “red-flag laws” work only if those whose guns are seized can't somehow secretly rearm themselves.

In Wednesday’s fatal case, authorities on June 12 had seized two firearms from a man’s home in Tuscola County, in Michigan’s Thumb area, yet the man was armed with a handgun this week when he broke into a house in Orion Township where his ex-girlfriend was living, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. The man, after firing one shot, was fatally wounded by a single shot fired by the ex-girlfriend’s stepson, Oakland County officials said.

The dead man was identified as 67-year-old Galen Gavitt, of Unionville. His ex-girlfriend, 62, and her stepson, 36, were not injured, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. The ex-girlfriend had been living in Orion Township with her stepson and the stepson’s wife after ending a 17-year relationship she'd had with Gavitt, Bouchard said.

Describing the dramatic incident that began at about 10 a.m., Bouchard gave this account: Gavitt broke out a basement window at the rear of the home with an axe and entered the house, sending the stepson and his stepmother — Gavitt’s ex-girlfriend — rushing to an upstairs bedroom.

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As the stepson held the door to prevent Gavitt from entering, Gavitt fired a single shot through the bedroom door, causing the stepson to drop to the floor, although he was unharmed. After pushing the door open, Gavitt pointed a .38-caliber revolver at the stepson, who also was armed with a handgun and still prone. Gavitt then stepped over the stepson and “headed toward his intended victim,” who had locked herself in an adjoining bathroom, Bouchard said.

“That’s when he told the stepson, ‘I’m here for her,’ and starting trying to enter the bathroom," the sheriff said. At that point, the stepson fired a single shot, striking Gavitt in the head. Deputies, arriving soon after the gunshot, "attempted lifesaving measures on Gavitt but were unsuccessful and he was pronounced deceased at the scene,” Bouchard said.

Police were dispatched after the stepson called 911 and said that Gavitt had broken into the house, that he and his stepmother feared him, and that the stepmother was covered by court orders meant to keep Gavitt away, according to county officials. The woman had obtained both a standard personal protection order and the newly authorized ERPO — or Extreme Risk Protection Order — the latter issued on June 12 by an Oakland County judge, officials said. The stepson told investigating officers on Wednesday that Gavitt had made threats in that past that he would kill Gavitt’s ex-girlfriend — the stepson’s mother.

ERPOs are “very new” in Michigan, said Christine Kinal, CEO and executive director of HAVEN, an Oakland County-based nonprofit that provides shelter, counseling and education programs to assist victims of domestic and sexual assault.

“The motive behind ERPOs is for cases just like this. It gives a little more power to authorities to take guns away from someone in an emergency,” Kinal said. Gavitt, however, was able to obtain a handgun despite the court orders issued against him. Police said they were investigating whether one of Gavitt’s relatives may have provided the weapon.

Bouchard ended his news conference about the incident by reciting the particulars of a new state law that could punish whomever provided the handgun that Gavitt possessed: “An individual who knowingly places a firearm in the possession of an individual who is restrained under an ERPO is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment by up to one year or a fine of up to $1,000, or both.”

Contact Bill Laytner: blaitner@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Stepson in Orion Twp. kills domestic abuser before intruder can shoot his mother, cops say