Suspect surrenders after 11-hour standoff in Dayton

Shots were exchanged between a man and police during a nearly 11-hour standoff at a home on Elsemere Avenue in Dayton.

The man had two children with him inside and used them as human shields, police said, before he eventually surrendered.

The incident began Tuesday and ended Wednesday.

Officers first responded to the home in the 1900 block of Elsemere Avenue around 10 p.m. Tuesday after receiving a call of a domestic disturbance, Dayton police Maj. Joe Wiesman said.

“As (officers) approached the house, the suspect in this case fired rounds at the officers,” Wiesman said. “The officers returned fire. Luckily nobody was hit.”

The exchange of gunfire prompted police to request SWAT from both Dayton police and the Montgomery County Sheriff ’s Office.

The suspect was later identified as Todd King, 57, according to jail records and dispatch logs.

King was armed with a rifle and handgun, and police believe he might have had a sniper rifle in the house as well, according to Wiesman.

Two children, ages 2 years and 8 months, were in the house during the standoff. King would hold or place the children in front of him, using them as human shields during the standoff, according to police.

Police were able to convince King to come out of the house just before 9 a.m.

No injuries were reported. Police said the children were placed in the custody of their mother.

The standoff kept anxious neighbors up throughout the night.

“The SWAT team is in my driveway,” Denise Williams said. “They won’t let me come out. I’ve been up since this happened.”

Denise Russell, a neighbor of King, said she was trying to talk to King before he barricaded himself in the home.

“I tried to talk with him. Normally he comes over to talk, and he wouldn’t come over,” Russell said. “He was scared he would leave, and she would take his kids.”

”It’s primarily the kids that are caught up in this,” said King’s neighbor Lamar Ford. “They’re babies. They don’t need to be tied up in this.”

Dayton police remained at the house for hours to search and collect evidence. Contact this reporter at 937225-0730 or email Emily. Kronenberger@coxinc.com.