FAIRFIELD, Ohio — A grand jury declined to indict three officers involved in the March 6 fatal shooting of 24-year-old Tyler Jones, Butler County prosecutor Michael Gmoser announced Thursday morning.
Officers responding to a report of a stolen car and firearm that day found Jones in the parking lot of an apartment complex on South Timber Hollow Drive, according to a statement from Gmoser’s office. Jones refused to obey officers’ orders to put his hands up and quickly threatened officers with a semi-automatic pistol.
Officers attempted to stun Jones with a Taser but were unsuccessful in subduing him. When he pointed his pistol at the head of the nearest officer, they shot him.
The entire interaction was recorded on body-mounted cameras, Gmoser wrote.
Fairfield City Police Chief Steve Maynard contacted the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification to review the incident; Gmoser, per his office’s policy, forwarded it to a grand jury.
In a statement, he said the case demonstrated the benefits of using body-mounted cameras in law enforcement.
“Emotions often run high on both sides of these types of cases that are significantly reduced by this modern technology,” he wrote. “Very little is left to interpretation, as it should be, in these life-and-death events.”
Fairfield City Police officer Doug Day said in a statement March 19 that the officers are still on administrative leave and will return to work when they are ready to do so.
