Kettering police officer ‘forced’ to shoot ‘suicidal subject,’ lieutenant says

KETTERING — A Kettering police officer shot a person described as a “suicidal subject” Thursday night in the 500 block of Hadley Avenue, Kettering police Lt. Craig Moore told News Center 7.

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“Officers were dispatched on a suicidal subject,” he said. “Upon their arrival, they were confronted with a situation in which the officer was forced to use his duty weapon. We had an officer-involved shooting.”

The conditions of the officer and the suspect were not known at this time, the lieutenant said, noting that the investigation is ongoing and more information would be released Friday.

Lt. Moore would not say whether one officer or more than one officer fired at the suspect. He would not say how many shots were fired. He also would not say whether the officer involved in the shooting had been wounded.

Police were dispatched to the 500 block of Hadley Avenue sometime after 9 p.m. on an officer needs assistance call, according to Kettering police radio dispatch. When officers arrived on the scene, they blocked a section of Hadley from Shroyer Road to San Rae Drive for their investigation.

Tabi Cox, who lives next door on Hadley Avenue where the incident occurred, told News Center 7 Reporter Brandon Lewis that a woman and her boyfriend were arguing when “he, like, lunged at her.”

The man threw down a book bag and ran, then returned and shoved the woman, who was screaming and crying, Cox said.

Cox said she heard the man say he was going to stab a cop, and that he didn’t care, that he wasn’t going to jail. He ran in the house, then came back out yelling at the woman as she was on the phone.

Cox said the man had run inside a second time when police arrived. They went inside, Cox said, noting that she heard the woman tell police the man still had a knife. The man came outside again. Moments later, Cox said her view was obscured by a tree but “heard ‘shots fired,’ and he just like dropped to the ground.”

“It’s crazy to see it next door. . . . It happened so fast,” said Cox, who offered that she has given police a statement.

She said she does not know the man or woman but has seen them together. Cox also said she could not tell whether an officer was injured in the incident.

We will continue to update this developing report as information becomes available.

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