Dayton police shoot person with reported knife during trespassing, mental health call

Body camera has been released after police shot a 77-year-old man Sunday night who reportedly charged an officer with a knife.

The man initially was in life-threatening condition Sunday but was in stable condition as of Monday afternoon, Dayton police Chief Kamran Afzal said.

The incident started around 6:57 p.m. when a person called the Montgomery County Regional Dispatch Center. Afzal said the call appeared to come from Summit Behavioral Healthcare in Cincinnati and it was not clear what the caller was trying to report.

Credit: Jim Noelker

Credit: Jim Noelker

Dispatchers tried five times to call the person back but were unable to get additional details. Afzal said dispatch put the call in for officers to respond after multiple attempts to contact the caller again.

Two officers arrived at the building, which is a mosque and residence, in the 700 block of North Broadway Street. One officer went around the back and could be heard on body camera footage asking if someone called police.

As the officer walked through the backyard, he went around a shed and found a man with a knife standing near the fence.

The officer ordered the man to drop the knife several times and began to back up as the man approached him, according to body camera footage. The man started running toward the officer, who then shot him.

Credit: Jim Noelker

The man was hit in the chest, arm and leg, Afzal said.

The officer radioed dispatch about the shooting at 8:10 p.m. and requested medics. Dispatch issued a Signal 99, or call for officer assistance, a minute later.

The man continued to hold the knife and ignore commands to drop it after the shooting, Afzal said.

Officers requested less lethal force at 8:14 p.m. and crews arrived within two minutes.

After about 13 minutes, police notified crews they were going in with a shield and then took the knife from the man, the chief said.

The man was taken into custody and officers told medics staging in the area they could approach. Medics left at 8:31 p.m. to transport the man to a local hospital.

Afzal noted officers went to the scene without any indication there was anything out of the ordinary.

When police know in advance that a person is armed, officers can use other methods, such as a drone.

“In this case we didn’t know what we had,” Afzal said.

The man previously was convicted of attempted murder in Maryland in 1973. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity in a 2010 assault on a peace officer case, according to Montgomery County Common Pleas court records.

In 2011, he was sentenced to 12½ years in prison for aggravated robbery, assault on a peace officer and vandalism.

Afzal said the man has been on parole since June 2023 for that case. A parole violation charge is being pursued. The Dayton Daily News is not identifying the man because as of Monday he has not been formally charged.

The officer who shot the man, whose name has not been released, has been with Dayton Police Department for two years. He’s received two written commendations, a letter of appreciation and no reprimands. He is on paid administrative leave in accordance with policy.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is conducting the investigation into the shooting and the Dayton Police Department Professional Standards Bureau is handling a separate, independent administrative investigation.