Here are six things to know the case:
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•The defendants in the lawsuit. Aside from Howard and Knight, the suit names Michael Cornely, Justin Eller, Brian O'Neal, "and unnamed officers" defendants. It does not name the city of Moraine or the Moraine Police Division.
•The lawsuit alleges conspiracy, wrongful death. "The defendant officers otherwise acted both willfully, wantonly, recklessly, negligently, intentionally, and with malice and willful indifference in committing the acts alleged in this complaint, which resulted in the wrongful death of Jamarco McShann."
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It also claims the defendants “together with their unnamed co-conspirators, reached an understanding, engaged and continue to engage in a course of conduct, and otherwise jointly acted and/or conspired among and between themselves to unreasonably stop, seize, shoot, and kill Jamarco McShann in violation of his constitutional rights…”
•How McShann died. McShann died from "multiple shotgun and gunshot wounds," suffered Oct. 20, according to the Montgomery County Coroner's Office.
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Police said Howard and Knight fired 10 shots after telling McShann to drop his gun when they confronted him in his car after a report of a suspicious vehicle at Valleyview Apartments on Pinnacle Road just before dawn.
•Conflicting accounts. Police said McShann was pointing a Ruger semi-automatic pistol with a high-capacity magazine and a bullet in the chamber. They said he refused to drop it before Howard and Knight fired shots.
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The suit claims Howard and Knight “without cause or provocation, fired multiple bullets into the parked” 2003 Pontiac Grand Am McShann was in.
•Officers returned to work last year. Howard and Knight were placed on paid administrative leave – standard procedure in police shootings – following McShann's death. They returned to administrative duty Nov. 20, according to Police Chief Craig Richardson.
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Richardson said Howard and Knight “passed a ‘fitness for duty’ psychological exam and were ready to return to duty” and by the first week of December, they had returned to full duty.
•What's next? The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which oversaw the criminal aspect of the case at the request of the Moraine Police Department, has completed its investigation. The Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office said that the criminal case has not yet been presented to a grand jury.
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