Chief: Man shot, injured by police already flagged as potential threat to officers

A man shot and wounded by police on Friday night had already been flagged as a potential danger to officers, and had a warrant for his arrest at the time of the officer-involved shooting.

  • Antoine Lamar Morrow, 40, shot in chest; in stable condition
  • Officers Clinton Evans and Steven Edinger on administrative leave
  • Police find 9 mm Hi-Point handgun and knife

Two Dayton police officers who responded to 603 Rockford Ave. Friday night knocked several times and identified themselves as police officers.

An officer shot 40-year-old Antoine Lamar Morrow, once in the chest after he answered the door, pointing a gun, Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said during a Monday afternoon media conference.

Credit: DAYTON POLICE DEPARTMENT

Credit: DAYTON POLICE DEPARTMENT

Last month, Dayton police shot and wounded a 38-year-old Toledo man at the Samaritan Behavioral Health CrisisCare Emergency Room after he twice lunged for an officer’s gun.

Cory Allen Fraley was shot in the hip Sept. 3 and is now facing aggravated robbery charges. Following his hospital release, he was booked into the Montgomery County Jail, where he is held on $500,000 bond.

>> Dayton Chief: Man shot at Samaritan CrisisCare facility lunged at officer

The Oct. 12 shooting happened at 9 p.m. on the second floor of a two-story, four-unit apartment building in the 600 block of Rockford Avenue in Dayton.

Police shared 911 calls leading up to police responding to the apartment.

The first at 8:16 p.m. was about suspicious circumstances surrounding an argument on Rockford Ave.

The second at 8:27 p.m. was from a woman who said a man with a knife slashed her husband’s tires in the 1400 block of North Main Street.

While police were responding, the woman who called 911 flagged them down at 8:50 p.m., and led them to the apartment at 603 Rockford Avenue.

“Morrow opened the apartment door with a firearm in his hands, and pointed it at the officers. Officer Evans fired three rounds at the suspect, striking him once in the chest,” said Lt. Col. Matt Carper, Dayton assistant police chief.

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At that point, you can hear through the microphone on a cruiser’s dash camera as police tell Morrow to cooperate so they could get him medical attention.

“I’ve gotta see your other hand, man. I cannot help you if I don’t see your hand,” an officer tells him.

Police were able to get to Morrow after kicking in a door. They rendered aid as they waited for medics to arrive.

As of Monday afternoon, Morrow remained in serious but stable condition at Miami Valley Hospital.

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Officers found a 9mm Hi-Point fully loaded handgun and a knife believed to have been used to slash the tires, Biehl said.

Morrow has a history of violence dating back to 1996 in Dayton, which includes felonious assault and robbery convictions. He had an active arrest warrant for failure to appear in court for a child neglect case, police said.

He is facing charges of having weapons under disability for the previous convictions, Biehl said, and a Montgomery County grand jury will review the case for additional charges at a later date, he said.

The two officers involved in the shooting, Evans and Steven Edinger, are on administrative leave, which is policy, Biehl said.

DATABASE: Officer-involved shootings

Evans has been with the department since 2013 and is a member of the SWAT team. Edinger joined the force just a little more than a year ago.

Homicide detectives will investigate the shooting and the professional standards bureau will conduct an internal investigation. Also, the federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau will trace the gun involved.

While remain underway, Biehl said he believes his officers had little choice than to fire.

“I would say that given Mr. Morrow’s actions, there was very little alternative other than to do just what they did,” he said.

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