KETTERING — Police cruiser dash camera video shows the lead-up Thursday night to an officer-involved shooting, the third for the Kettering Police Department in less than a year.
“I can tell you in all three incidents that all three individuals had firearms and all three were not responding to the commands that officers were giving to them,” Kettering Police Chief Chip Protsman said Friday afternoon.
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The man shot by police Thursday was identified as 31-year-old Wayne Morgan of Dayton, who remains hospitalized with injuries not considered life-threatening. The officer who shot Morgan was not yet named but is on paid administrative leave, the chief said.
Morgan was a passenger in a vehicle stopped for a traffic violation. Although the stop was initiated in Kettering, the vehicle stopped at 8:44 p.m. at Smithville Road and Ewalt Avenue, just three blocks into Dayton past the Kettering city limits.
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Morgan fled and then broke away from the officer, despite orders to get on the ground or be hit with a Taser. This was before the officer spotted that Morgan was armed. “Get on the ground. Get on the ground, get on the ground. He’s got a gun.”
Protsman said it wasn’t until the officer noticed the gun that he responded with potentially deadly force when Morgan quickly turned toward the officer.
A woman who lives nearby said Dayton police found Morgan’s gun on her property and took it as evidence.
The driver of the car stopped was not charged and was released, police said.
Kettering police were involved in two other officer-involved shootings within the past year.
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One was at the Chatham Village apartments in May, in which an officer shot and killed 24-year-old Mitchell Simmons — who had interviewed for a job at the Kettering Police Department — during a domestic violence incident.
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The other was during an August 2017 traffic stop, when 33-year-old Jason Hoops of Fairborn was shot and killed. Police said he had a gun grip sticking out of his pocket and ignored repeated commands to put the gun down and get out of the car.
The officers involved in both shootings were cleared and returned to work.
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