Two passengers were in the car with Atwater at the time of the crash, police said. A 26-year-old Dayton woman with serious injuries was taken to Miami Valley Hospital. On Sunday, she was reported to be in critical condition. Police reported she was taken directly into surgery and had not talked with investigators.
Trotwood Police Deputy Chief John Porter said two vehicles were traveling south on Salem Avenue at about 2:15 a.m. when an altercation occurred between the occupants in both vehicles. Witnesses told investigators gunshots were fired from one vehicle into the victim’s vehicle moments before the vehicle crashed.
The victim lost control of the vehicle near the intersection of Salem Avenue and Olive Road, where it left the roadway, went airborne, and rolled multiple times before it came to rest on its top near the parking lot of the former Elder Beerman location, Porter said. The victim’s vehicle was found upside-down with two people trapped inside.
“The whole incident remains under investigation and we’ll be looking into this for quite some time,” Porter said Sunday morning.
The vehicle carrying the suspects left the scene before police arrived. The description of the suspect vehicle is vague, but officers are looking for a dark colored vehicle, either a Dodge Charger or Chrysler 300, Porter said.
The crash scene is over a half mile long on Salem Avenue and is believed to have started in Clayton before ending in Trotwood, according to police.
Trotwood police declined to release additional details regarding the status of the investigation on Sunday evening.
Sunday’s shooting marks the most recent homicide in Trotwood. In April, Thomas Johnson, a 48-year-old veteran who lived in Germantown, was shot at a Speedway in Trotwood before he was dropped off at the Dayton VA Medical Center. Three men, Joshua Wilson, 33; Dshawn Lynch, 20; and Randle Lavert Jr., 23, have been charged in connection with Johnson’s murder.
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