Police shoot man who pointed gun

A man was shot and wounded by a Dayton police officer in an incident Friday night on Rockford Avenue.

Chief Richard Biehl said the man “shoved a gun out the door” and was shot and wounded by one of two police officers who went to the man’s apartment to investigate a complaint.

Biehl gave this account of the investigation:

Two Dayton officers in a police cruiser were responding to a call about criminal damaging on Main Street when a man flagged them down about 8:45 p.m. The person who flagged down the officers said the person who was slashing tires was in an apartment in the 600 block of Rockford Avenue.

The officers went to the apartment, knocked several times and announced who they were. When the individual in the apartment opened the door after several minutes, he shoved a gun out the door and pointed it at the officers. The man didn’t fire the weapon, Biehl said. One of the officers stepped back, drew his service weapon, fired at least three times, and may have hit the individual at least twice.

“When the weapon was pushed out the door, an officer responded by firing,” Biehl said. “He pointed a weapon right at the officers.”

The person in the apartment was taken to Miami Valley Hospital and is believed to be serious but stable condition.

Police don’t have an explanation as to why the man did what he did. The man does have a history regarding police contact, the chief said.