Dayton man shot by police sentenced to prison

Shawn Dwayne Keirns

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

Shawn Dwayne Keirns

A Dayton man who was shot by police in 2020 was sentenced to at least nine years in prison in connection to the incident.

Shawn Keirns, 50, was sentenced on charges of felonious assault on a police officer, felonious assault and grand theft of a firearm.

Keirns was sentenced in connection to his actions on Sept. 24, when he flagged down a motorist on Wayne Avenue and then grabbed the man’s 9mm handgun, according to the prosecutor’s office.

“The defendant then ran down Wayne Avenue and fired several shots from the gun, including at other motorists,” the prosecutor’s office said in a release. “The defendant then ran down Wayne Avenue and fired several shots from the gun including at other motorists. When Dayton police officers arrived, they confronted the defendant who pointed the firearm directly at one of the officers.”

The officers then opened fire and Keirns was struck. The officers involved in the shooting were not indicted by a grand jury earlier this year.

“Thankfully, the only person who was injured was the defendant and not any innocent bystanders or officers. This was an extremely dangerous situation, caused by the defendant, that could very easily have turned deadly,” Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said in a statement announcing the sentence.

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