FAMILY OF KETTERING MAN WANTS INDEPENDENT REVIEW
Father of man shot by Kettering police officer hires attorney, seeks explanation for why son was killed.
The family of a man shot and killed by Kettering police have hired an attorney and are demanding a more thorough review of the man’s death.
Michael Hoops, the father of Jason Hoops, announced Tuesday that he hired area attorney Konrad Kircher “to represent the family concerning the circumstances of Jason’s death.”
Jason Hoops, 33, was shot to death by Kettering police officer Jonathon McCoy during a traffic stop on Aug. 27. He died of mul
tiple gunshot wounds, according to the county coroner. Dashcam video of the incident shows McCoy repeatedly telling Hoops not to reach for a gun before McCoy pulled the trigger.
“The hasty securing of an alleged statement from a pur- ported acquaintance of Jason to
the effect that Jason was seeking to harm police officers — an alleged fact which McCoy could
not have possibly known when making his decision to shoot Jason — is a clear indication that the KPD investigation is not focused on a professional, objective review of the actions of Officer McCoy, but is intended to subjectively justify Officer McCoy’s actions,” according to Kircher’s statement.
The family questions whether Hoops was confused by changing orders from officers to both put his hands up and put them on the dash, asking whether he was moving his hands from one place to the other when he was shot.
And they ask why, after shooting at Hoops five times, McCoy ordered Hoops to put his hands up and shot at him four more times after he didn’t comply.
“Despite nine shots, Jason was still alive when pulled from the van,” the family’s statement says. “Would he have survived if only the first five shots had been fired?”
Kettering police said they would defer to the final coroner’s report regarding how many times Hoops was shot. Kircher said Tuesday he did not know.
Hoops’ family questions the officer’s decision to reach his arm into the vehicle, asked why he didn’t wait for backup and notes there was no round in the chamber of Jason Hoops’ gun.
“We look forward to having these questions and concerns addressed by properly-appointed independent investigators,” the statement says. “It is unfortunate that we will not likely receive credible answers from the Kettering Police Department.”
A Kettering police spokesman said the department would not comment on the attorney’s claims due to their investigation being ongoing.
Officer John Jung said there were no associated 911 calls and that McCoy’s use of force report would not be available until the criminal investigation was complete.
Kettering Fraternal Order of Police local union president Det. Ryan Vandegrift said he has no issue with Kettering police investigating one of their own because of the investigators’ integrity.
“We have confidence in Officer McCoy,” Vandegrift said. “We believe he did as he was trained and had no other choice. Obviously, it’s a tragedy whenever something like this happens and someone loses their life, but we do support Officer McCoy.”