SPRINGFIELD — A man is in the hospital after being involved in an officer-involved shooting in Springfield.
Crews were called to the 700 block of Selma Road around 7:30 a.m. Sunday, on reports of a man threatening people with a gun at a Sunoco Gas Station.
A police report obtained through a public records request said when officers arrived on scene, a suspect, only described as an adult white male, shot at the officers. Cruiser camera video showed officers arrive on scene and the suspect walk toward them with a gun in his hand, shooting at them.
Officers shot back at the suspect. Surveillance cameras at the gas station caught the incident and showed the shootout, with the officer and suspect moving around the police cruiser. The video then shows the suspect take off as officers continue shooting and eventually hitting him.
The suspect was taken to Springfield Regional Medical Center and then flown by medical helicopter to Miami Valley Hospital. His condition remains unknown.
After the shooting, police spoke with a man who said the suspect was giving him a ride prior to the shooting.
The man told officers that he met the suspect at Speedway on Limestone Street and asked him for a ride to the Fairfax on E. Main Street. After a brief stop, the man told the suspect to drop him off at the Sunoco.
“[The man] stated that when they got to the gas station, the suspect parked near the gas pumps. The suspect then began loading a cartridge into a handgun that he produced from his hooded sweatshirt. The suspect then began telling [the man] that he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and he had been sent to kill [him],” the incident report read.
After that, the man said he walked into the lobby of the gas station and the suspect followed.
The convivence store manager told News Center 7′s John Bedell that he could tell there was some sort of argument between the two. He said he came up with a lie to get the gunman out of the lobby.
>> PHOTOS: Police, Ohio BCI investigating officer-involved shooting in Springfield
“He [had] a face mask, everything. And he comes into my store and he says, ‘Send this guy outside.’ I say, ‘OK, you go outside. I send him outside.’ When he [goes] outside, I lock door. Then I call [the] cops. Cops show up after like 20 minutes, 15 minutes,” Manoj Ram, of Springfield, said,
After the man and Ram locked the suspect out of the store and called the police, he said they eventually heard gunfire from inside the store.
“It was like, ‘Pop, pop, boom, boom, boom,’ like that. Four or five times,” Ram said and showed News Center 7 two bullet holes in the pumps.
After the shooting, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) was called to investigate the incident. A BCI spokesperson said Monday that they did not have any additional information about the investigation available.
Springfield Police confirmed Monday that the two officers involved in the shooting have since been placed on administrative leave pending Springfield Police’s internal investigation.
©2022 Cox Media Group
