WEST CHESTER TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WXIX) – A veteran West Chester police sergeant shot and killed a suspect holding a knife to a woman’s neck and using her as a shield, according to body camera footage and other police records.
By Tre Mathews, Jennifer Edwards Baker, Kennedi Cooper, and Matt Schaffer for Fox 19 News
Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser indicated the use of force was clearly justified after Police Chief Brian Rebholz released these new details during a press conference late Friday.
“This is my third case during my 15-year tenure where video evidence supports use of lethal force and the rescue of a victim,” Gmoser told FOX19 NOW.
“These officers met the highest expectations that the public has for their heroic service.”
The prosecutor said he still plans to take the case to a grand jury for their review, which is his policy for all police-involved shootings to ensure transparency.
West Chester police immediately asked the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to conduct an independent investigation.
The probe remains ongoing, but Chief Rebholz walked through the timeline of events and showed police body camera footage of what officers encountered when they responded to a neighbor’s frantic 911 call.
It happened in the 9000 block of Zinnia Court at the Springs at West Chester Apartments about 9:50 p.m. Thursday.
The neighbor reported hearing her screaming from inside an apartment “during a big scuffle” and being assaulted and slammed up against a wall.
“She’s screaming for her life. He’s beating the f—ing hell out of her. I just heard her fall down the stairs,” the neighbor told the 911 dispatcher, according to a recording of the call.
Police responded “to a possible domestic in progress,” radio traffic shows.
Once officers arrived, the chief said they tried to contact the man and woman inside the apartment to determine whether she was safe.
The man refused to open the door and told police the woman inside did not want him to, according to the radio traffic.
When police spoke with the woman on the phone and asked her, “Do you need us to come inside right now,” however, she responded, “Yes,” so they forced entry through the front door, according to the body camera footage.
It shows officers searching the multi-level apartment before finding the suspect, identified by the chief as Lorenzo J. Miller, 39, holding a large knife to the victim’s neck inside a bathroom.
“Don’t rush in here! I have a knife to her neck! Do not rush in here!” he yelled to police.
‘Help me! Help me!’
“Let her go!” police ordered Miller, according to the body camera footage.
“Help me! Help me!” the woman pleaded.
When Miller did not obey commands to release her, the sergeant fired a single shot to stop the deadly threat, according to the body camera footage and other police records.
Police gave Miller CPR until West Chester paramedics took over, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, the police chief said.
The woman, 31, was taken to UC Hospital West Chester “with multiple visible injuries,” he said.
She was treated and released.
“Our thoughts and sympathies are with everyone affected by this incident, including the victim, the family of the deceased, the responding officers, the residents who witnessed or heard this incident, and the broader community as a whole,” Chief Rebholz said.
History of violent offenses
Miller is “an extremely dangerous” convicted felon with a long, violent history that includes murder, resisting police and being a “documented prison gang member,” West Chester officers were told as they responded to the apartment, according to radio traffic.
The police chief said his prior charges include:
- Aggravated murder
- Domestic violence
- Aggravated robbery
- Felonious assault
- Possession of dangerous drugs
- Weapons under disability
- Obstruction
Miller was on parole following his latest release from prison last year on the drugs and weapons charges, state records show.
Veteran sergeant fired the only shot
The sergeant who fired the lone gunshot during the incident has been with the West Chester Police Department for 20 years, Chief Rebholz said.
Another sergeant who’s been there 15 years was also involved, along with two officers – one with 16 years of experience and the other with 3 years.
No officers were hurt, the chief said.
They are all now on paid administrative leave.
That is customary at all law enforcement agencies in these situations and in line with West Chester Police Department Policy.
Read the original article in its entirety on Fox 19 News.
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