Dayton police Chief Kamran Afzal said the initial investigation indicated that at about 9:28 p.m. Tuesday two officers stopped an individual on a bicycle at East Second and St. Clair streets.
Afzal said a foot pursuit followed, and an officer caught up with the fleeing individual at East Third and St. Clair streets.
“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 rendered aid, and the man was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. The person’s identity has not yet been released.
Afzal said police found a handgun at the scene. Afzal said he will know more after he reviews the body cam footage. No officers were injured.
Afzal said he believes one officer fired one shot, based on the initial evidence.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office will investigate the shooting. Standard practice is to bring an outside law enforcement agency in to investigate officer-involved shootings.
“Once that investigation is done, then we’ll start our administrative investigation,” Afzal said.
“I will preface this by saying this is what we know right now,” he said, adding that more information will likely be shared with the media and the public during an upcoming briefing.
More information was expected to be released Wednesday, including body camera footage from the incident, according to police.
We are working to learn more and will update this story with any new information.
In 2025, there were at least three officer-involved shootings, and 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 March 26 after he pleaded guilty to having weapons while under disability, aggravated possession of drugs and a misdemeanor count of obstructing official business.
