Police ID man killed after Dayton standoff, point to history of mental illness

Medics transported Gardner to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office will investigate the shooting, and the Dayton Police Department’s Professional Standards Bureau will conduct an internal investigation, Carper said.

Credit: MARSHALL GORBY/STAFF

Credit: MARSHALL GORBY/STAFF

The incident started after a shooting was reported around 6:50 a.m. in the area of Hoover and Evergreen avenues on the city’s northwest side, outside a house in the 2500 block of Hoover Avenue.

One 911 caller reported Gardner was outside firing a gun, adding that this was not the first time he had done so, and a second caller said they were shot, according to police.

When police arrived, officers discovered Gardner had shot a 49-year-old man walking his dog, Carper said.

According to police, the dog ran toward a small fire behind the house and the 49-year-old went after it, at which point Gardner fired about six rounds at him. The 49-year-old was hit and fled the scene down Evergreen Avenue, where he called 911.

The 49-year-old man was shot in the leg and was treated and released from the hospital. It’s not clear what happened to the dog.

Gardner reportedly ran back into his house after the shooting, and police called SWAT to respond.

Neighbors were evacuated from their houses, and crews could be heard calling for the man to come outside and saying he was under arrest.

Carper said Gardner refused orders to come out of the house without a weapon and did not answer his phone as police attempted to contact him that way.

On securing a search warrant, police deployed chemical munitions in the basement and attic of the house, but Gardner did not come out.

Around 9:30 a.m., Gardner opened a basement door to look out, then closed it again, and one minute later ran out the same door with a gun in his hand. He ran past the first SWAT team and toward a second SWAT team, which fired on him as he approached. Officers shot Gardner about eight seconds after he ran from the house and toward them, and the shooting lasted about 20 seconds.

Carper said nine officers fired a total of 37 rounds at Gardner.

He said the gun Gardner carried when he ran out of the house was a 9 mm pistol with one live round in the chamber and nine live rounds in a magazine.

“In any SWAT callout there are multiple, multiple commands in an effort to resolve these incidents safely, and they’re almost always resolved safely,” Carper said. “In this case there’s certainly history that we’re going to be looking at to determine what would motivate a person to act in the aggressive way he did.”

“It’s still very early in the investigation,” Carper said shortly after the incident. “This subject fired multiple rounds at the subject who was walking his dog and actually struck him in the leg with one of the rounds.”

In a public briefing, Carper said that Gardner had a significant recent history of mental health concerns, and was known to own a firearm and multiple extended magazines.

He said officers had spoken to Gardner six times, five of which happened since July, often at the request of concerned family members. During one of the interviews Gardner told police he wanted to die, he wanted his family members to die and he wanted police to shoot him, Carper said.

Gardner had been seen at two local facilities for emergency mental health evaluations, as well as one in Columbus.

“This is a tragic example of how serious mental health problems are and what they can lead to,” Carper said.

Police are also investigating an incident that occurred at 10 a.m. Monday, where Gardner reportedly shot another person in the leg, and refused to come out when police arrived. Police never found a victim of the reported shooting, either at the scene or at local hospitals, but do believe someone was shot, Carper said.

Without being able to find the victim or other evidence to support the report, Carper said police were not able to pursue criminal charges at that time.

The interim chief said when considering the Tuesday shooting of the man walking his dog, as well the as incident Monday, the 21-year-old man “absolutely was a danger to the public as well as the officers.”

He added that police were also looking back through previous police responses to Gardner’s house.

We will continue to update this story as more details are available.