HARRISON TWP., Montgomery County — Dayton police and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office have identified the man shot and killed by police during an overnight standoff on Sherer Avenue. The standoff stemmed from an earlier stabbing and came after several earlier responses to the same home the day before.
The man shot and killed by officers during a shooting overnight has been identified as Benjamin P. Cotton, 24. He was released from prison on Feb. 2 after serving time for assault on police officers in 2018 and 2019. He died on the scene.
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The officers and deputies involved in the shooting are: Deputy Dan Casey, Deputy Thomas Barnes, Officer Jamie Luckoski, Officer Jason Bryant, Officer Terrell Moore and Officer Christopher Bartley
K9 Officer Rio, who was brought onto the department as an officer in July, suffered an injury to his leg. He was taken to MedVet in Moraine and was treated and released. Police believe either he was grazed by a bullet or shrapnel during the shooting.
Deputies had responded to the home where the deadly shooting happened multiple times Thursday after receiving several 911 calls. Around 9:30 a.m., deputies responded on a report that Cotton had grabbed his father and threw him onto a bench. Deputies said he was struggling to adapt to life after prison and was suffering from drug addiction. Cotton was not at the house when deputies arrived.
A second call came around 11:45 a.m. Thursday, when someone asked for police help in locating Cotton, possibly in Brookville, where the caller said he’d throw personal property out a window. Police responded to the area and were unable to find Cotton.
A third call came in around 4:28 p.m. from family members asking for deputies to check the welfare of Cotton and said he may be aggressive with his father and could be high on methamphetamine. Deputies responded to the home and Cotton was not there and never showed up in the 30 minutes investigators were there, Streck said.
The fourth and final response to the home came around 2 a.m. after deputies received a report that Cotton stabbed his father, and that his father was bleeding from the neck.
Deputies responded and attempted to take Cotton into custody and while doing so, deputies attempted to use 12-gauge sandbags, Tasers and also tried to physically restrain him, Streck said. Cotton ran inside the home and refused to come out, so SWAT was called.
Shortly after 3:50 a.m., Cotton exited the home and bag yelling and swinging a knife in the air, cruiser camera video shows. For over 25 seconds, police and deputies asked Cotton to drop the knife, Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said. Cotton then is seen advancing toward officers with the knife and that is when shots are fired by police, which kill Cotton, according to police.
Cotton’s father was taken to the hospital for the injuries he got from the stabbing, but he’s since been released from the hospital
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
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