TROTWOOD — The city of Trotwood released pubic records identifying the three officers who were involved in the deadly officer-involved shooting in the parking lot of an apartment on Kelford Place.
Those records were obtained through a News Center 7 public records request and show that one of the three officers on leave actually fired his weapon in the shooting that killed Andrew Hogan on Feb. 5.
Officer Michael Molchan Jr., who was hired by the department in July 2019, was identified as the officer who fired his gun, the city’s law director said in a letter to News Center 7.
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Sgt. Brandon Holbrook and Officer Keiondre Taylor also were placed on leave, according to records.
Hogan, 25, was shot after he came out of an apartment on Kelford armed with a knife after several prior attempts by officers to take the 25-year-old into custody after a theft complaint at a nearby Speedway, said Chief Erik Wilson.
The incident began as a report of a man stealing items from the Speedway convenience store at 5000 Olive Road, near the intersection with Shiloh Springs Road, around 10:15 p.m., Trotwood police said.
An incident report obtained by News Center 7 showed a 2-liter non-alcoholic beverage was stolen and recovered by police.
Before police arrived on scene, Hogan had left the store and was walking west on Shiloh Springs Road. Police located him and got into an altercation in front of the Kensington apartment complex.
“The suspect male refused to follow orders and assaulted one of the officers on the scene. Additional attempts to gain compliance, without success,” Trotwood police Sgt. Joseph McCrary said in the department’s media release.
Wilson said police used a Taser, pepper spray and baton to try and get Hogan to comply.
Police said Hogan then ran from officers and went into an apartment in the 700 block of Kelford.
“While the officers waited for additional units to respond to make contact with the suspect, the suspect male exited the apartment with a knife in hand. The male suspect was fatally shot,” McCrary said.
The knife McCrary was said to have had when he was shot was recovered, Wilson said.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation will be leading the criminal investigation. An internal investigation also has been started, Wilson said.
News Center 7 has requested cruiser camera footage from the incident, however the city’s law department said its still reviewing some records included in WHIO’s public records request.
Trotwood police do not currently have body cameras.
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Hogan’s family has reached out to the Dayton Chapter of the NAACP saying they are seeking answers in the incident.
“And I believe they already killed him. That’s why you need body cameras to tell the truth,” Bernett Hogan, Andrew’s mother, said during a NAACP news conference Sunday.
Wilson said the department is working to fund purchasing body cameras, but that funding has not happened yet.
Dayton NAACP Chapter President Derrick Forward said he and the organization hopes Trotwood police invest in body cameras as an effort to prevent future loss of life.
Gov. Mike DeWine announced a plan for $10 million in grants to fund body cameras for police departments as part of the latest budget proposal, however that program would need approved by the Ohio General Assembly.
Cox Media Group
