DAYTON POLICE PROBE 3RD HOMICIDE WITHIN ONE WEEK
51-year-old man shot, killed in alleged robbery; city sees trio of shooting deaths in less than a week.
Dayton police responded Friday morning to the city’s third homicide in less than a week, marking a stretch of violent crimes.
Crews responded to the 100 block of Victor Avenue around 4:30 a.m. on a reported shooting after being flagged down by an individual who said there was a robbery, Dayton Police Lt. Jason Hall said. There, they found 51-year-old Glenn Phillips dead at the scene.
Hall said it’s too early to say what took place during the alleged robbery or what was taken.
A cause and manner of his death had not been determined by the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office on Friday. Dayton police Sgt. Creigee Coleman said the victim was shot in the torso and a homicide unit was called to the scene.
During their investigation, another man with an apparent gunshot wound to his left hand showed up, said Coleman. It was not clear if he was connected to the first victim.
Dayton police are continuing to investigate, but Coleman asked that anyone with information please contact police or Miami Valley Crime Stoppers.
”A person lost their life at the hands of gunfire and we need to find out exactly what happened so the family can have closure,” he said.
Anyone with information can call Dayton police at 937-333COPS or call Miami Valley Crime Stoppers anonymously at 937222-STOP.
”We need someone to call Crime Stoppers, call the Dayton Police Department and let us know exactly what you saw and what time you saw something,” Coleman said. “If you saw any cars, vehicle, any person, people of interest that just seem out of
the ordinary. Anybody that have any cameras going in this area. We want to solve this crime so we can find the person who did this.”
The Friday shooting was the fourth incident of gunplay in the city in a week and the third time someone was killed. On May 9, 32-year-old mother Krysten Connally was shot and killed in front of her 4-year-old child. Police have arrested Gregory Blanton, the father of the child, in the case.
On Monday, Dayton police said a man was shot on Darst Avenue. Police are seeking Shaquille Shackelford, 27, as a person of interest in the shooting.
On Tuesday, 22-year-old Marcheal Postell died at Miami Valley Hospital after he was shot on West Hudson Avenue. Police said in a statement they are investigating the case and are seeking information from the public for help solving the homicide.
”We are very concerned,” Hall said. “Anytime we have an uptick or we have a series of violent events occurring in a short period of time, it definitely gets our attention,” Hall said. “We constantly monitor violent crime and address it as soon as possible. Our detectives and our patrol officers continue to work to prevent this type of incident.”
”The data sets can be different depending on when you look at things and for how long. Violent crime, along with many other statistics tends to ebb and flow, this is a short period of time, but there is no reason to believe that these events are related.”
Hall said solving violent crimes is Dayton Police’s top priority. Coleman said the recent string of homicides highlights that just because there is a pandemic, people still need to take precautions so they do not become victims of crime.
”In this age with what’s going on with COVID-19 and people are distancing themselves, we still need people to stay safe and be watchful. We need people to look around, watch your surroundings and in these situations, we need the public’s help. It’s gunfire and we need the community’s help,” he said.