MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — A person was shot and killed by police after they pointed a gun at officers conducting a search warrant in Middletown, according to a representative of the Middletown Fraternal Order of Police.
The incident occurred just before 7:30 a.m. during the execution of a special operations unit search warrant on a drug investigation at a home in the 900 block of Garden Avenue.
Dan Hils with Frontline Advisors, which represents the FOP in Middletown, said the officers were on the porch of the home and made "numerous announcements" about who they were before breaching the door. Hils said a 47-year-old man inside pointed a gun at the officers, and "at which time shots were fired." The man was pronounced dead and no officers were injured, Hils said.
"Nobody wants to face that type of a life-or-death situation," Hils said.
See more from the scene of the shooting in the video below:
Hils said the man who was shot and killed was considered a suspect and had multiple prior convictions of "violence" and "drug arrests."
A woman inside the home was also injured from what Hils believed was shrapnel from a bullet to the ankle. The injuries are not life-threatening, but she was taken to the hospital, Hils said.
The Bureau of Criminal Investigations was requested to investigate the shooting.
“BCI was requested by the Middletown police department to investigate a fatal officer-involved that occurred this morning,” a spokesman told our partners at the Journal-News.
BCI will complete an independent review of the circumstances, according to Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser.
The investigation will then be transferred to Gmoser, who will present evidence to the Butler County Grand Jury.
“I applaud Chief Nelson for getting BCI involved,” Gmoser said.
This is the third police-involved shooting in Middletown since February 2023, according to our partners at the Journal-News.
