Oct. 17 – A Dayton police officer who shot a 77-year-old man armed with a knife in August will not face criminal charges.
A Montgomery County grand jury declined to indict the officer in the Aug. 11 shooting.
The incident began after the Montgomery County Regional Dispatch Center received a call that appeared to be from Summit Behavioral Healthcare in Cincinnati at 6:57 p.m. Dayton Police Chief Kamran Afzal said it was unclear what the caller was trying to report.
Dispatch attempted to call the person back five times, but received no additional information. Two officers were then dispatched to a building that serves as a home and mosque in the 700 block of North Broadway Street.
Body camera footage showed one of the officers walking around the back of the building and asking if anyone had called the police. The officer walked through the backyard to a shed. As the officer continued, he found a man standing between the side of the shed and a fence.
In body camera footage, the officer can be heard telling the man to drop a knife. The man then turned to the officer and began running toward him as the officer repeated commands to drop the knife.
The officer shot the man, hitting his chest, arm and leg, Afzal said.
The man continued to hold the knife after the shooting.
The officer radioed at 8:10 p.m. to report the shooting and asked for medics. A minute later, a signal 99, or call for officer assistance, was issued.
At 8:14 p.m., officers requested less-lethal force and crews arrived within two minutes. After about 13 minutes, police entered with a shield and took the knife from the man, Afzal said.
Medics in the area were able to approach the man and transported him to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. At a press conference the next day, Afzal said the man was in stable condition.
The name of the officer who shot the man has not been released. The officer has been with the Dayton Police Department for two years and has received two written commendations, a letter of appreciation and no reprimands.
The man, now 78, was previously convicted of attempted murder in Maryland in 1973. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity in an assault on a peace officer in 2010, according to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court records.
Also in Montgomery County, he was sentenced in 2011 to 12.5 years in prison for aggravated robbery, assault on a peace officer and vandalism.
As of Thursday, he has not been charged in connection with the August incident.
