People are speaking out after a person was shot by Dayton police Saturday evening.
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As reported on Saturday News Center 7 at 11 amPolice officers responded to “address vacancy/block party issues” in the 500 block of Negley Place, the department said.
Officers approached a man who was believed to be carrying a firearm.
Dayton Police Chief Kamran Afzal said the man ran from officers, then turned and allegedly pointed a gun at them.
According to a statement posted on the website, two officers shot the man with their weapons. Dayton Police & Fire Facebook Page.
Police “began to provide medical assistance” to the man as medics were sent to the scene.
Medics took the man to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
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News Center 7’s Malik Patterson spoke to people after Saturday’s shooting.
They told him what they saw.
“They started chasing him and he started running and they just started shooting,” Maycee Harris said.
“Two officers, not one, are emptying the clip,” Aiyanah Ramsay said. “If we were shooting in front of a crowd of children, adults, teenagers, we could all have lost our lives.”
They said they were hanging around before officers arrived.
“We were about to leave,” Harris said. “They just came and shot a kid.”
>>RELATED: Dayton NAACP Calls for Release of Bodycam Video After 1 Shot, Killed by Police
Patterson asked what they wanted to see after what happened on Saturday.
“Everyone comes together, works together,” Ramsay said.
“If you see a group of kids, that doesn’t mean you should call the police, it means someone should go check on them,” Harris said. “If you don’t hear gunshots, you’re fine. There’s no reason for the police to stop and shoot kids.
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Dion Green, CEO and founder of the Fledge Foundation, was also present after the shooting Saturday evening.
“I came here to make sure there’s transparency, there’s respect on both sides. While I’ve been here, I’ve seen some disrespectful things that have happened,” he told Patterson. “I’ve fought with both sides to keep the tension from getting any worse than it is. There’s already tension where someone’s lost their child. This is not the time to smile… people are hurting.”
Green also spoke about the many shootings that have occurred in Dayton this week.
“I’ve been advocating against gun violence for the last five years, but I can’t be the only one. I need the community to stand with me, to be tired, and to speak out. We have to do this together. I’m tired of it. I’m tired of seeing parents lose their kids or kids go to a party to have fun and someone’s kid doesn’t come home or ends up in the emergency room. This is unacceptable.”
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The Dayton Unit of the NAACP also released a statement after Saturday’s shooting.
The Dayton Branch NAACP is aware and has interviewed witnesses on the scene of this officer-involved shooting that resulted in the death of a teenager in Dayton, Ohio. We will be conducting a thorough investigation into this case in the coming days and will be requesting body camera footage to see where the evidence leads us to determine the truth in this case.
Our thoughts are with the bereaved.
News Center 7 is trying to determine the age and identity of the person killed.
We will continue to update this story.
