Reinaldo Gomez Taylor, 33, of Dayton, was killed in what Dayton police Maj. Brian Johns described as an “ambush-style shooting.”
Police responded around 3:20 a.m. May 29 to a shooting at a shopping center parking lot at 2152 N. Gettysburg Ave.
Despite video surveillance showing multiple people witness the shooting, Johns said police didn’t receive a lot of information from the public.
“[Taylor] was shot over in the parking lot on Gettysburg and there were a couple hundred cars there,” he said. “There were people walking around when it happened and we got very little cooperation on who did that.”
Johns previously said he counted around 342 cars in the parking lot at the time of the shooting and that multiple people left without talking to police.
Video footage and “great” detective work helped investigators identify and arrest the suspect, he said.
“We solve more murders with help by the community than we do by DNA and things like that,” Johns said. “That’s why it’s so crucial for people to be involved in their community and to speak up and say something when they see something like that.”
Thursday’s arrest was made with assistance by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Trotwood Police Department, Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team and Safe Street Task Force.