The body camera video released by police shows the officers getting out of their cruiser as a handful of people stood at various spots in and along the narrow road.
The video shows one officer look toward Moody, who is standing in the street, and say to him, “Come here and talk to me real quick.” A woman asks, “Who?” and the officer says, “This man right here,” gesturing toward Moody.
Moody then runs away from the officer and into a grassy lot between houses, with both officers running after him. The officer closer to Moody appears to say, “You’re going to get shot” or “You’re going to get shocked,” as he runs after him.
A yellow object, which Dayton Police Chief Kamran Afzal said is a Taser, can be seen in one officer’s left hand as he runs. The Taser was not used.
The foot pursuit lasts only a few seconds, and the video shows Moody partially turning and looking over his left shoulder toward police as he goes through the grassy lot.
“That’s when the first shot is fired, when he’s turning and it looks like something is in his right hand,” Afzal said. “At least that’s what the video shows …”
Both officers shot at the teen, firing a total of eight times, Afzal said. Moody was shot once in the left shoulder and suffered internal injuries. Officers and an off-duty nurse provided medical care to the teen. He was taken to Miami Valley Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Video and gun details
The video shown Monday is from the body-worn camera of officers who are running and thus is far from crystal-clear. It’s difficult to see exactly what was in Moody’s right hand while he was running. Dayton Police showed the 15 seconds from the time officers got out of their cruiser, until just before the first shot was fired.
They also showed a second body-camera clip, time-stamped about 53 seconds later, showing a gun lying in the grass next to a blurred-out image of where Moody fell.
“While fleeing from officers, the subject turned toward the officers with a gun in his hand,” Afzal said.
Afzal said the handgun found in the grass next to the teen’s body was a Glock 17 that had been modified to be fully automatic. He said it had 30 live rounds and one in the chamber.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is handling the investigation and the Dayton Police Professional Standards Bureau is conducting a separate administrative investigation.
Both officers who shot Moody are in their sixth year with Dayton Police. Afzal said they have a combined 18 commendations, and one written reprimand each, one for body camera procedure and the other for improper Taser testing.
Leaders have questions, ideas
Afzal acknowledged the pain the community is experiencing following the shooting and said the incident also has been hard for the police force.
“This is an extremely traumatic time for the community,” he said. “It’s also an extremely traumatic time for the department itself.”
Derrick Foward, president of the Dayton Unit NAACP, said the release of the video was helpful, but added he still has significant questions. He said he wants to see the full body-camera videos.
He said he wants to hear what the officers who fired the shots have to say about why they singled out that teen and tried to make contact with him.
“I’d like to hear what police officers were thinking at the time of the incident,” Foward said.
State Rep. Willis Blackshear, D-Dayton, urged the sheriff’s office to conduct a thorough investigation, in a manner “transparent to the family of the deceased and to the public.”
“My heart goes out to the family of the young teen that was shot. This was a preventable and needless tragedy that has the community mourning,” Blackshear said. “I am praying for the victim’s family, and will work to ensure that they receive answers following this devastating shooting.”
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
Some community members called for the shooting investigation to be turned over to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Groups including Ohio Families Unite Against Police Brutality say the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is a close ally of the Dayton Police Department and should not be in charge of the probe.
Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr. said Monday that the community is hurting and must find new solutions.
“We have a problem,” the mayor said, flanked by 15 local leaders. “I am calling for us, this community, to take action.”
Mims said he has been working to bring a new violence interruption and intervention program to Dayton that has been successful in other communities. He said young people need conflict resolution skills and mentorship, and they need safe places to play, Mims said.
Recent surge of shootings
Afzal said the officers in this incident were patrolling areas where there have been recent complaints involving parties at vacant properties. A stolen vehicle and other firearms also were recovered at the scene of Saturday’s shooting, Afzal said.
A shooting at a vacant house party June 24 at Euclid and Home avenues left one person dead and six others shot. Dayton Police recently pointed out a five-day stretch of late June in which 17 people were shot (two fatally) over the course of six separate incidents.
Afzal said the city’s recent run of violence can’t be solved by just policing.
“We all have to play a part in it,” he said. “This issue we have in the city is not going to be resolved by the police department. It’s going to be resolved by us as a collective.”
Community remembers teen
On Sunday dozens of people gathered near Wolf Creek on Negley Place to mourn Moody.
“I am in disbelief,” said a woman who was introduced as Moody’s mother, speaking quietly into a microphone. “I just want to be here for my son. That’s all.”
Later a crowd met near where the teen was shot and released balloons to honor his memory.
Dion Green, whose father was among nine people killed in the Oregon District mass shooting, told those listening Sunday afternoon that these moments are never easy.
“There were kids out here, and after the shooting, there was nobody from a mobile crisis team to come out here to help these families,” Green said Sunday. “This is a long-term thing. I’m still going through it today.”
“We have failed our children” said Montgomery County Commission President Deborah Lieberman, who was at the rally. “All I can say is, I’m heartbroken. I’m heartbroken for our community. And we will find out what happened. And how.”
Lieberman invited rally-goers to count to 15 — “Because that’s the number of shootings that have happened in the past week in Dayton,” she said.
