Credit: Dayton Police Department
Credit: Dayton Police Department
Officers Joshua Blankley and John Griffin were identified by Kamran as the two officers involved. Blankley joined the department in April 2020 and Griffin has been on the force since August 2012.
Officers were dispatched shortly after 5 p.m. to the 1600 block of Suman Avenue off South Smithville Road after multiple callers reported a naked man outside with a large sword.
“There’s just something wrong,” one 911 caller said. “He’s yelling and screaming.”
Another caller said there were two young girls across the street and that she was concerned for their safety.
Afzal said officers arrived within three minutes after they were dispatched and encountered the nude man carrying the sword.
“He comes running down from his house and then he keeps running towards the officer and with that sword in hand, and as the suspect got kind of close he raised his weapon that he had in an aggressive manner and that is the time our officers responded by discharging their service weapon.
“The suspect was struck multiple times in the lower extremities, which stopped the aggressive behavior” Afzal said.
Based on evidence seen on the officers’ body cameras and in the interest of public safety, Afzal said “it seems appropriate” regarding the use of force in this case.
Following the shooting, officers activated a countywide “Signal 99″ officer needs assistance call, according to the Montgomery County Regional Dispatch Center.
Jodi Schulte and her father-in-law were sitting on the porch when she said they heard “bang, bang, bang,” which she said startled them and her Chihuahuas.
Schulte said there’s never been a shooting in her neighborhood in the year she’s lived there, at that it made her “a little scared. It’s got my anxiety shaking.”
Although Schulte said she did not see what led to the shooting, she said officers immediately were helping the man who was shot and then more officers arrived before medics came in.
“I’d say the police did an excellent job,” she said.
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting and the Dayton Police Department also is conducting an internal investigation, Afzal said.
Officers Blankley and Griffin are on paid administrative leave pending the investigation, which is department policy.
The sheriff’s office will determine potential charges against Showalter, the chief said.
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