Man fatally shot after breaking into Orion Township house to attack ex-girlfriend

OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) – A 67-year-old suspect was fatally shot after breaking into a residence to attack his ex-girlfriend in Orion Township Wednesday morning.

The suspect was fatally wounded by the ex-girlfriend’s stepson inside the house, on Elkhorn Lake Road around 10 a.m. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.

The woman and her stepson retreated to an upstairs bedroom after Galen Gavitt broke into the residence using an ax. Once inside, the stepson – who had his own gun – barricaded the door and the woman hid in the attached bathroom.

Gavitt fired a shot through the door, causing the man, 36, to duck for cover on the floor. Gavitt came into the room, pointed a gun at the woman’s stepson and told him ‘I’m here for her’ Bouchard said.

“(Gavitt) moved towards the bathroom door, and at that point, the stepson fired one round from his weapon, which struck the assaulting suspect, who is down, deceased. So it kind of played out very quickly,” Bouchard said.

Gavitt had previously threatened to kill the woman, and already had a personal protection order and extreme risk protection order filed against him.

His ex-girlfriend had lived with him for 17 years in Tuscola County before she sought refuge in her stepdaughter’s house in Orion Township.

Gavitt broke into the home using the ax to break a basement window. Both the woman and her stepson were not injured.

Bouchard said that it appears Gavitt got his ex-wife’s weapon and took that to the Orion Township house to shoot his former live-in girlfriend. Gavitt’s own two firearms had already been confiscated from the state’s so-called Red Flag law by police in Tuscola County.

Although the investigation is ongoing, the sheriff said that the stepson’s actions appeared justified as Gavitt was going after his ex-girlfriend with a gun that he had already fired before forcing his way into the bedroom.

Bouchard said he didn’t know how the man bracing against the door was missed by the blind gunshot fired from Gavitt.

“By the grace of God,” he said. “It depends on where in the door it went through.”