1 critically hurt after gunfire exchanged between officers, suspect in Middletown

MIDDLETOWN — A person is in critical condition following an officer-involved shooting in Middletown Monday evening, according to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Officers were initially dispatched around 3:30 p.m. to an apartment on Park Lane, Middletown Police dispatchers told News Center 7.

Butler County Sheriff’s Office and a mental health crisis team were called to the apartment complex to reports of a 29-year-old man experiencing a mental health crisis, according to Daniel Hils, president of Front Line Advisors which represents Middletown police.

>>PHOTOS: 1 critically hurt in gunfire with officers in Middletown

The sheriff’s office requested Middletown police’s SWAT team after the man was seen with a handgun, according to Hils.

SWAT attempted to talk down the suspect but Hils said the man expressed he was suicidal and the conversation was mostly incoherent.

Raw video: 1 injured in gunfire with officers in Middletown Raw video: 1 injured in gunfire with officers in Middletown (WCPO)

The man then fired at least one shot at officers and they returned fire hitting the man, Hils said.

“I can tell you that mental health response is a very difficult and dangerous response because of the unpredictability of somebody that’s in a mental health crisis. There, you know, the reasoning is going to be different than dealing with somebody that has been more coherent. They’re very unpredictable,” Hils said.

Medics transported one person to the hospital, and is in critical condition, a BCI spokesperson said.

No officers were injured.

Additional details were not immediately known, as Ohio BCI’s investigation is active and ongoing.

This is a developing story, and we will continue to provide updates as we learn them.

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