Fatal Middletown officer-involved shooting under investigation by Ohio BCI

Investigators outside the Olde Towne apartments in Middletown after police said a standoff ended with exchanging gunfire with a suspect Monday afternoon | Nick Graham/Staff

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) is investigating a Middletown police officer-involved shooting that left one person dead Christmas Eve evening in the Olde Towne Apartment Complex off University Boulevard. Nick Graham/Staff

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) is investigating a Middletown police officer-involved shooting that left one person dead Christmas Eve evening in the Olde Towne Apartments complex off North University Boulevard.

Police responded to reports of two men fighting at an apartment on the 1000 block of Park Lane at 7:04 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Middletown Division of Police.

Police knocked on the reported apartment’s door and identified themselves as officers when the suspect allegedly opened the door and displayed a firearm. In response, the officers shot the suspect, police said.

Middletown dispatchers said the names of the suspect killed or the police officers involved in the shooting were not immediately available today.

The investigation into the incident has been turned over to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations and is ongoing, police said. Anyone with information regarding it is encouraged to contact BCI at 855-224-6446 or 740-845-2000.

This is the third police-involved shooting in Middletown since February 2023.

In April 2023, Middletown police responded to the same apartment complex when they were shot at by a suspect. They returned fired and hit the suspect, wounding the man.

In February 2023, Middletown police shot and killed a man who pointed a weapon at them in the parking lot of the Walmart on Towne Boulevard.

No charges were filed against the two Middletown officers in the deadly shooting.

The officers’ use of deadly force in the Feb. 25 shooting of 47-year-old Victor Lykins was deemed reasonable by the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office, Prosecutor David Fornshell announced.

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