By Jim Newell
Managing Editor
jnewell@mihomepaper.com
ORION TWP. — An armed man who broke into the Orion Township home where his ex-girlfriend was living on July 17 was fatally wounded after he was shot by his ex-girlfriend’s stepson.
The 67-year-old man was identified as Galen Gavitt of Unionville, Michigan. His ex-girlfriend, 62, and her stepson, 36, were not injured in the attack, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.
The incident happened shortly after 10 a.m. July 17 at a home on the 1200 block of Elkhorn Road. Deputies were sent to the home after getting an initial report of a breaking and entering. The stepson told the 911 emergency dispatcher he and his stepmother were fearful of Gavitt, and that his stepmother had a valid personal protection order that prevented Gavitt from entering her home legally.
The woman had been living in Orion Township with her stepson and his wife since the 17-year relationship between her and Gavitt soured, the sheriff’s office said.
The woman also had obtained an extreme risk protection order issued June 12 by an Oakland County judge under Michigan’s “red flag” laws. The laws allow judges to order the confiscation of firearms from individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others. Two weapons were confiscated from Gavitt’s home in Tuscola County on June 12, Bouchard said.
The stepson told authorities that Gavitt had made threats he would kill them.
The morning of the attack, Gavitt broke out a window at the rear of the home with an axe and entered the house. The stepson and his stepmother attempted to barricade themselves in an upstairs bedroom.
As the stepson tried to hold the door to prevent Gavitt from entering, Gavitt fired a single shot through the bedroom door, causing the stepson to fall to the ground, according to the sheriff’s office.
Gavitt then pointed a .38 caliber revolver at the stepson, who was also armed with a handgun and was lying on the bedroom floor. Gavitt reportedly stepped over the stepson to get to his intended victim, who had locked herself in an adjoining bathroom, the sheriff’s office reported.
“I’m here for (her),” Gavitt said, according to the sheriff’s office.
When Gavitt attempted to enter the bathroom, the stepson fired a single shot, striking Gavitt in the head. Deputies attempting life-saving measures on Gavitt were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced deceased at the scene, Bouchard said.
The incident remains under investigation by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.