Nearly 200 guns have been taken off the streets, and almost 50 people are behind bars, thanks to Operation Fly City.
News Center 7’s Taylor Robertson spent the morning at the ATF office in Kettering, where she saw all the weapons that were seized on display.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
TRENDING STORIES:
- People want city to act after violent start to summer
- Reports: Jessica Simpson’s upcoming concert at Fraze Pavilion canceled
- Man armed with knife shot, killed by officers, police say
Robertson said it looked like a gun show, and it only took agents, officers and deputies two months to collect all the weapons.
Operation Fly City started at the end of April.
Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Ohio, said, “Aside from obtaining federal drug and firearms charges against 47 defendants, our agents, officers and deputies took 176 firearms, as you can see right here in front of you, off the street. They also seized bulk amounts of dangerous narcotics like Fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine.”
Gerace said ATF, Homeland Security, Dayton Police, Montgomery County deputies, U.S. Marshals, and the DEA all worked together on this.
He said the ATF chose to focus on Dayton because of the number of violent crimes that happen.
Dayton Police Chief Eric Henderson said, “Last year, we had 92 individuals that were shot in the Dayton community that were not fatal. We had 34 homicides in 2025. This year, we’ve had 38 people shot who did not die, and 17 homicides.”
Henderson said with a community of about 135,000 people, “That’s way too much crime, way too much violent crime.”
ATF Special Agent in Charge, Jorge Rosendo, said every gun recovered means a potential act of violence prevented.
“The Dayton community is undoubtedly safer as a result of this homeland security task force operation,” Gerace said.
Law enforcement said they are still looking for four defendants.
[SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
