CELINA — A 22-year-old man was shot and killed in an officer-involved shooting in Mercer County early Tuesday Morning.
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The Mercer County Sheriff’s Office was called to help backup Celina officers at Dockside Marathon, 303 S. Main Street, around 3 a.m., according to the sheriff’s office.
Officers were originally called there for a man with a knife. Deputies arrived on the scene and found 22-year-old Moses Alik.
Alik brandished a knife and a Celina officer deployed a taser but it did not stop him, the sheriff’s office said.
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Cruiser camera video released shows Alik raising the knife above his head and charging toward Deputy Spencer Heinl who shoots Alik multiple times.
Alik was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
“It was very scary, but I’m glad it happened the way it did and officers took care of it the right way,” Spencer Chilcoat, of Celina, said.
Chilcoat lives a block away from where the shooting happened. As shown on News Center 7 at 6:00, he said his downstairs neighbor posted a message on Facebook that the man tried to break into his home moments before the shooting.
Chilcoat believes the deputy had no choice.
“I don’t blame them at all. He’s got families to go home to, they all do. You can’t be mad at them,” he said. “They have to protect us all. If they didn’t do that, what happens next, you know?”
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) confirmed the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office requested them to investigate the shooting. Their Special Investigations Unit and Crime Scene Unit have responded to investigate.
Deputy Heinl, as a matter of routine, has been placed on paid administrative leave, while BCI completes their investigation.
“I want to stress, this is not disciplinary leave, this is a normal practice in law enforcement as investigations like this proceed,” said Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey.
We will continue to update this story.
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