Sandy MaloneFairfield, OH – A Butler County grand jury refused to indict the Fairfield police officer who shot a man pointing a gun at him earlier this month (video below).
The Fairfield Police Department released bodycam video of the shooting that occurred in the 3300-block of Port Union Road at about 3:45 p.m. on June 5, WLWT reported.
Officers responded to a call about a man with a gun and when they arrived on the scene, they encountered 36-year-old Rodolfo Molina-Hernandez standing in the middle of the street.
Bodycam video showed that an officer tried to get the suspect to get out of the street and ordered him to show his hands.
But Molina-Hernandez ignored the officer’s commands, turned his back on him, and then appeared to reach into his pants.
“Drop it! Drop the gun!” the officer ordered in the video.
Bodycam video showed that initially, officers couldn’t tell if Molina-Hernandez was holding a gun.
But when the suspect took a shooting stance and pointed the weapon at police a second later, the officer took him seriously.
Bodycam video showed the officer fired at Molina-Hernandez five times.
Hernandez was transported to an area hospital for treatment, the Journal-News reported.
He was released from the hospital and booked into the Butler County Jail on June 9.
Molina-Hernandez was arraigned on charges of aggravated menacing and held on a $25,000 bond, the Journal-News reported.
Officials identified the officer who shot Molina-Hernandez as Fairfield Police Officer Nick Davis.
Officer Davis was placed on administrative leave while the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) investigated the incident, as is protocol for all officer-involved shootings.
The bodycam showed that after the shooting, Officer Davis expressed concern that the suspect had been pointing a toy gun at him, the Journal-News reported.
But BCI investigators recovered the gun after the shooting and confirmed it was, in fact, a real gun.
Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser took the results of the BCI’s investigation before a grand jury and the panel returned no indictment against Officer Davis, the News-Journal reported.
“The incident was captured on the subject officer’s body camera and the video is being released for public view,” Gmoser said. “It should be apparent to all that pointing a firearm at a police officer in the performance of his or her duties carries a high probability that lethal force to eliminate the threat will result.”
Officials released the bodycam video of the incident after the decision not to charge the officer was announced.
Watch the incident unfold in the video below. WARNING – Graphic Content:
Holly Matkin
