BLACKMAN TWP., MI - Police officers on Sunday shot and killed a man identified as a suspect in an armed robbery at a Dollar General store on East Michigan Avenue, just outside Jackson.

"They attempted to make contact with that suspect and as a result of attempting to make contact multiple rounds were fired by officers from (three) departments," Michigan State Police Detective 1st Lt. Tom DeClercq said Sunday night in Blackman Township.

Kenneth Scott Townley, a 47-year-old possibly homeless man just released from jail and also suspected in a Sunday purse heist, died during surgery at Henry Ford Allegiance Health, said DeClercq, assigned to the Lansing-based First District Special Investigation Section. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday morning.

Among the five officers who fired are two from the Blackman-Leoni Township public safety department, two from the Jackson Police Department and one from the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, DeClercq said.

All are now on paid administrative leave, he said. Blackman-Leoni Township public safety Director Mike Jester, Sheriff Steven Rand and Elmer Hitt, Jackson director of police and fire services, confirmed the officers were off work, pending the outcome of the state police investigation, in a joint statement issued Sunday night. The officers were not named.

Neighborhood residents said Townley raised a gun and failed to heed repeated commands to drop the weapon, but DeClercq would not speak to such specifics and declined to answer a question about whether Townley fired upon the officers. He said a weapon was recovered from the site of the shooting, at Watts and Tyson streets, off E. Michigan Avenue, about a half mile from the dollar store. He declined to specify the type.

Some homes in the area were hit by the gunfire, he said, but there were no injuries. Tyson Street is narrow and closely lined with small, older houses.

State police investigators from outside Jackson are handling the inquiry and when their work is complete, a report will be forwarded to the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office for review, the lieutenant said.

Townley allegedly robbed the Dollar General, 3025 E. Michigan Ave., about 2:25 p.m. A clerk told police a man held up the store with a handgun. Within minutes, police from the three departments located him as the suspect, DeClercq said. He was walking a few blocks from the dollar store, which was closed after the the crime.

"After a short confrontation, officers discharged their firearms, striking the suspect," reads the statement released by the Jackson County department heads. Public safety personnel immediately began treating the man, taken by ambulance to the hospital.

Blackman-Leoni Township public safety officers believe Townley also used a handgun to demand a 54-year-old woman's purse and keys about 12:20 a.m. Sunday in the parking lot at Meijer, 3333 E. Michigan Ave.

The woman was loading groceries into her vehicle, gave the items to the armed man and ran back to the store while the man fled the area on foot. Officers identified Townley as the suspect and were trying to find him Sunday afternoon when the dollar store robbery was reported, Jester wrote in an email. No one was hurt and no shots were fired at Meijer.

Investigators were not able to determine an address for Townley. "We believe he is homeless," DeClercq said. He was jailed Oct. 27 for theft, remained there Saturday morning and released by early Sunday, according to Jackson County Jail records. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor larceny offense and guilty to being publicly intoxicated and disorderly in November, while on probation for breaking and entering.

In August, he admitted to the felony breaking and entering charge and was sentenced to two years probation in September, according to court and Michigan Department of Corrections records. He was discharged from probation because he violated the terms shortly after he went to jail in October.

As DeClercq stood Sunday before TV cameras, more than five hours after the shooting, state police troopers continued to work behind him. A forensic laboratory van was parked near police tape. Officers were locating casings, reviewing body and vehicle camera footage and talking to witnesses.

By about 9:45 p.m., most of the emergency vehicles had cleared the area.