Dayton police Chief Kamran Afzal said initial investigation indicated that around 9:30 p.m. two officers stopped a bicyclist at East Second and St. Clair streets. A foot pursuit followed and an officer caught up to the fleeing man.
“The male suspect pulled out a handgun, and there was a struggle over the handgun,” read a statement released by the department after midnight. “During the struggle over the handgun, an officer discharged their firearm, striking the individual.”
Afzal said police provided medical aid at the scene before the man was taken to a local hospital, where he died. His identity has not yet been released.
There were at least three other officer-involved shootings in Dayton last year, though none were fatal.
Aug. 11, 2025
Otto Coleman was shot and wounded by police after he charged at an officer with a knife in a backyard in the 700 block of North Broadway Street, where police were called for a trespassing complaint. Police ordered Coleman to drop the knife several times before he charged at the officer, who shot him in the chest, arm and leg.
A Montgomery County grand jury declined to indict the officer. Coleman was sentenced in November to 10 to 15 years in prison for felonious assault with a repeat violent offender specification. He had been on parole at the time of the incident, court records show.
July 24, 2025
Jamar Johnson was shot and wounded after he was involved in a three-vehicle crash near 1017 W. Third St. in Dayton. He was running away and heading toward North Williams Street when two officers got out of a cruiser and pursued Johnson on foot. Johnson reportedly had a handgun in his right hand as he ran from police and was shot multiple times. He is charged in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court with attempt to commit tampering with evidence, obstructing official business, improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle and a misdemeanor count of failure to stop after an accident.
A grand jury declined to indict police in the shooting, and Johnson filed a civil lawsuit claiming excessive force. In the lawsuit, Johnson claims he was trying to put the gun in a sewer grate on French Lane when he was shot, and that as a result he is paralyzed.
June 12, 2025
Rodney Smith Jr. was shot and wounded while Dayton police were pursuing a stolen vehicle and Smith was in a pickup truck with an attached trailer that was blocking police during a joint violence deterrence initiative with the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s aviation unit. Other cruisers passed the truck to continue the pursuit and one of the officers got out of a cruiser and told Smith to stop the truck and show his hands. Smith had a handgun when he got out of the truck and started to run from police. Dayton police Chief Kamran Afzal said it appeared the officer shot Smith as he looked back at police. A grand jury declined to indict the officer, who shot Smith one time.
Smith is scheduled to be sentenced Thursdayafter he pleaded guilty to having weapons while under disability, aggravated possession of drugs and a misdemeanor count of obstructing official business.
Fatal officer-involved shooting
The last deadly officer-involved shooting in Dayton was June 29, 2024, when officers shot and killed 16-year-old Brian Moody while investigating a pop-up party in the 500 block of Negley Place.
Body camera footage showed an officer get out of a cruiser and attempt to talk to a teen, later identified as Moody, who started to walk away.
Moody can be seen turning back toward police before starting to run away. While running through a grassy lot, Moody turned and looked over his left shoulder at police when he was shot. The body camera footage released by police ended before the officers fired eight shots, one of which hit Moody.
Afzal said when he turned it looks like something was in his right hand, and that a loaded handgun modified to be fully automatic was found in the grass near the teen.
A grand jury declined to indict the two officers involved in the shooting.
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