Body camera shows moments before Dayton officer shot armed man

Credit: Joseph Cooke

Dayton police released body camera footage showing the moments leading up to an incident in which an officer shot a man armed with a handgun Thursday afternoon.

The officer fired one shot, Dayton police Chief Kamran Afzal said. The man is in stable condition at the hospital as of Friday afternoon.

Afzal said it appeared the man was trying to get away from police when he was shot.

The incident started around 1 p.m. when Dayton officers received a FLOC license plate reader hit for a stolen vehicle. An Ohio State Highway Patrol aviation unit was helping direct police to the vehicle.

OSHP alerted Dayton police to an interaction between a pickup truck and the stolen vehicle, Afzal said.

Police radio traffic played during a media briefing Friday indicated there was a hand gesture between the drivers.

At Miller Avenue and Redmond Place, a man in a pickup truck with a trailer reportedly attempted to block police.

Body camera footage showed an officer get out of the police cruiser with their gun drawn and order the driver to exit the truck and show his hands multiple times.

“At some point he does get out of the vehicle with what appears to be a handgun in his right hand and runs,” Afzal said Thursday. “The officers engage him at that point and one of our officers discharged his handgun.”

The officer briefly ran after the man and told him to drop the at gun at least once before they shot the man.

“It appears, and again this is part of the criminal investigation, that he was shot right around the time as he’s running with his handgun and looking back at the officer,” the chief said Friday.

The man, who is in his mid-20s, had a 9mm Glock 19x. There were 11 live rounds and one in the chamber, Afzal said.

Officers requested medics at 1:11 p.m. and began providing medical care. Medics arrived at 1:19 p.m. and left to transport the man to the hospital at 1:25 p.m. They arrived at the hospital at 1:35 p.m., according to the police timeline.

Afzal said Friday he was told the man was going to be released from the hospital. Charges are expected and could include having weapons while under disability, obstructing justice and possession of illegal narcotics.

The man previously was convicted of receiving stolen property, failure to comply with an order of a police officer and attempt to commit trespass in a habitation, the chief said.

The officer who shot the man has nine years of service with eight commendations and no disciplinary record.

Police found the stolen vehicle, which was stolen out of Warren County. The suspected driver was taken into custody on Pomeroy Avenue and transported to the hospital due to concerns they were having an overdose, Afzal said.

Information from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office indicated the man in the pickup truck and the person in the stolen vehicle know each other, the chief said.

Additional information about their relationship or what happened during their interaction prior to the shooting was not available.

Afzal said Dayton officers using deadly force isn’t common and typically a few incidents occur a year.

“This is not something that is normal for us,” he said. “The perspective I got, from not just the officer who discharged the firearm but the other officer, is it shook them. (It) does affect our officers quite a bit and understandably so.”

The officers involved will speak to the department’s doctor, the chief added.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is handling the criminal investigation. Once it’s completed the Dayton Police Department Professional Standards Bureau will conduct an administrative investigation.

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