Police release more details in shooting
911 caller told dispatch the suspect had gun, hostages in her home.
A 911 caller told dispatchers Tuesday night a man with a gun was holding three hostages in her home on Rondowa Avenue prior to a gunfight between the suspect and police.
Sgt. James Vance, the first officer to respond to the scene, began firing at the suspect shortly after he arrived. The suspect, later identified as 39-year-old Kevlin L. Wallace of Springfield died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to a preliminary autopsy.
Riverside police played the 911 call during a press conference Thursday morning, in which a woman, who sounds hysterical, can be heard telling dispatchers that her 9-year-old daughter, her boyfriend and her father were all inside the home.
“Please, my baby is in there,” she told dispatchers.
The woman was coming home from work when she found the armed suspect in her home and was able to call 911, said Riverside Police Chief Frank Robinson.
Vance was the first officer on the scene in the 2500 block of Rondowa
Avenue about 43 seconds after dispatch received the 911 call. The woman pointed Vance toward the home and the suspect began firing at the sergeant shortly after, police said.
Vance and the suspect exchanged gunfire for about 30 seconds before the suspect fled on foot, according to police. Vance and a second officer searched for the suspect separately as more crews responded and started setting up a perimeter.
The second officer saw the suspect go behind a home in the 200 block of North Pleasant Valley Avenue and radioed other officers to direct them to the suspect’s location.
The officer then heard a single gunshot fired, according to police. When crews approached the backyard, they found the suspect on the ground with a gunshot wound to his head.
Officers requested medics and provided aid to the suspect. He was transported to Miami Val
ley Hospital, where he later died. Police recovered two guns from the suspect, Robinson said.
An official cause and manner of death for Wallace have not been determined yet. No one else was physically hurt in the incident.
Vance, who has served with the Riverside Police Department for more than 20 years, is the only officer who fired his gun during the incident. He will be on administrative leave during the investigation, which is standard procedure, according to police.
Robinson said he believed Vance acted correctly in firing at the suspect.
“I think it saved his life and other people’s lives as well,” Robinson said.
Wallace was previously convicted of aggravated robbery and kidnapping. He was released from prison in October and is believed to be connected to other recent crimes, all in north Dayton suburbs, Robinson said. Details on the additional incidents were not released, but are all under investigation.
It is not clear if Wallace
was known to the 911 caller or anyone who was held inside the home. A man in the home told police Wallace knew his name.
The last time Riverside police had an officer-involved shooting was in 2019, Robinson said.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations is investigating the shooting and burglary.