The incident took place in Warren County, but witnesses slated to testify are from Butler County and state police agencies. The pandemic coupled with expert issues and legal maneuvering continued the trial several times.
Hubbard, now 38, was indicted Dec. 21, 2020 by a Warren County grand jury for attempted murder and felonious assault for allegedly shooting Jordan; attempted aggravated murder and felonious assault for allegedly shooting at Butler County Sheriff’s deputy Mike Barger; and attempted aggravated murder and felonious assault for allegedly shooting at Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper Brett Lee. The charges contain gun specifications that add to a sentence if Hubbard is found guilty.
Hubbard is also charged with two counts of having weapons under disability, failure to comply, improper handling of a firearms in a motor vehicle and a second-degree misdemeanor charge of assaulting a police dog.
Jordan’s dog, Koda, attempted to apprehend Hubbard while he sat in the car. The police dog was not hit by gunfire. Jordan, shot in the shoulder and finger, has returned to duty.
An investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Investigation indicated Hubbard shot first, striking Jordan, and that eight officers returned fire.
Hubbard, who was sent back to prison shortly after the incident, is being held on $1 million bond in the Warren County Jail.
Warren County prosecutors say in the days leading up Aug. 31, Hubbard told loved ones and his probation officer that he would not go back to prison and “was going to shoot it out with police.” Hubbard was also a suspect in an unsolved Hamilton homicide.
That information prompted an alert to area law enforcement for their safety. On Aug. 31, 2020, Hamilton and Middletown police officers were following Hubbard on Ohio 4 in an attempt to stop him, and were unsuccessful. Other law enforcement agencies joined the pursuit with Hubbard continuing on the move and refusing to stop, Assistant Prosecutor Travis Vieux said Tuesday during opening statements.
After nearly hitting a cruiser head-on and running over tire piercing spikes, Hubbard’s car stopped in a yard on Mason-Montgomery Road where “Christopher Hubbard did exactly what he said he was going to do,” Vieux told the jury.
Multiple officers surrounded Hubbard and his car, ordering him to surrender, but Hubbard “reclined his driver seat back and concealed himself,” Vieux said. He did not show his hands to surrender, according to prosecutors.
Jordan devised a plan to shoot out a window of Hubbard’s car with a bean bag gun and deploying his police dog.
The car window was shattered and Hubbard fired five shots, hitting Jordan, Vieux said. Officers then returned fire, deploying nearly 60 rounds. Hubbard was shot 15 times. Two guns, one jammed, were found in the car with Hubbard.
“Christopher Hubbard finally put his hands out the window and surrendered after being shot 15 times,” Vieux said. “Christopher Hubbard shot before any of the officers shot. Christopher Hubbard shot or aimed at the police officers with the intent to destroy life.”
Prosecutors said the five-second incident was caught on video that the jury will see.
The defense told jurors they will hear from Hubbard, who will tell them he acted in self defense when post-traumatic stress disorder was triggered by officers following him and he feared for his life.
Attorney William Oswall said on Aug. 31, 2020, police were looking to arrest Hubbard. When they began follow him, “he thought this doesn’t feel right. His PTSD was triggered.”
Hubbard truly believed “at this point that the police are going to try to kill (due to his PTSD),” Oswall said.
That’s when Hubbard drove into a residential yard thinking officers would not kill him in front of a house.
“He calls 911 stating ‘tell the police not to shoot me’,” Oswall said.
When the car window exploded in Hubbard’s face from the bean ba,g and the dog charged forward, Hubbard fired at the dog, according to the defense attorney.
“He was in fight-or-flight mode because PTSD,” Oswall said.
The defense also told the jury during opening statements that Hubbard has not been charged or even questioned about the Hamilton homicide that he was allegedly a suspect in.
The trial is scheduled to last all week in Warren County Common Pleas Judge Tim Tepe’s courtroom.
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