By Jeff Lehr

jlehr@joplinglobe.com

The Missouri State Highway Patrol has issued a report saying two Joplin police officers were justified in the shooting Saturday night of a former lieutenant with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department.

Police Chief Lane Roberts said the state patrol informed him Wednesday that its investigation of the shooting of Milton E. Ganz, 38, outside his home at 2603 S. Monroe Ave. concluded that Officers Ben Cooper and Freddie Alaniz acted in accordance with Joplin Police Department policy governing use of force.

Police say Ganz was armed with a .357-caliber revolver and was threatening to kill himself before the two officers arrived at his house. Both officers fired at him multiple times when Ganz pointed the gun at Cooper, according to police. Ganz was wounded by a single shot to the abdomen.

Roberts said the patrol’s report concurs with findings of the Police Department’s own internal-affairs review.

“(The officers) did the right thing,” Roberts said. “They were in a real tough spot.”

He said he has yet to see the patrol’s report on its investigation and does not know the specifics of its findings. He said the patrol simply provided him a courtesy notice of the primary conclusion of its investigation.

Roberts said the Police Department’s own review concluded that nine shots were fired in the incident, all of them by Cooper and Alaniz. The chief on Monday had acknowledged some uncertainty as to whether Ganz fired a shot. He said Wednesday that the internal review concluded that he had not.

“We know his gun was loaded, but we don’t believe he fired a shot,” Roberts said.

One live round was found in the weapon. Roberts said Ganz may have pulled the trigger on an empty cylinder, but he is probably the only one who knows. The chief said the single bullet was positioned in the cylinder that would have fired next.

Ganz was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center for treatment of the gunshot wound and later was committed on a 96-hour hold for a mental-health evaluation. He had not been charged with any offense by the Jasper County prosecutor’s office by late Wednesday afternoon, and an effort to ascertain the status of the 96-hour-hold was unsuccessful.

Prosecutor Dean Dankelson could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Roberts said he did not know whether the state patrol made any recommendations to the prosecutor’s office as to possible charges against Ganz.

The chief said Cooper and Alaniz remain on administrative leave. He said the standard protocol for officer-involved shootings calls for seven days off duty. He said the Police Department will begin a fitness-for-duty evaluation this week, with an eye toward possible returns to duty for the two officers sometime next week.