CINCINNATI — The sheriff's deputies who shot a man who'd swung a bat and later an axe at officers will not face charges, Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich announced.
Robert Eldred has been charged with five counts of felonious assault on an officer, for his alleged actions on Feb. 28, Pillich said.
The sheriff's office said in a release deputies responded to the 6600 block of Cambridge Avenue in Columbia Township at around 4:40 p.m. Friday after residents reported a man chasing people with a baseball bat.
Body camera footage shown during the press conference began with an officer at Eldred's front door, attempting to speak with him and asking him to step outside. He reminds Eldred that the two had already spoken for around 30 minutes earlier that day.
Eldred can be seen walking away from the front door, but it's difficult to see what he's doing. Just before Eldred returns to the door, the officer tells him to put the bat down.
"Hey, Robert, leave the bat in there, buddy," said the deputy.
Watch that moment below:
Eldred, holding an aluminum baseball bat, pushes the storm door of the home open and swings the bat at the officer, who quickly backs up.
Multiple officers retreat toward the deputy's vehicles along the road, while trying to verbally calm Eldred. He's asked to drop the bat multiple times before he throws the bat at the deputies.
You can see that here:
After that, Eldred went back into his home and returned holding an axe. He runs with the axe toward deputies, before turning and running along the sidewalk. At this point, one of the sheriff's deputies fired a shot, which hit Eldred in the hand, Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said.
Eldred turns back toward the officers, changes the axe to his uninjured hand and throws it toward officers as well. Once the axe landed, Eldred ran at officers and appeared to reach out and grab one of the deputy's guns.
Watch that moment below:
At that point, deputies fired two more shots, one of which hit Eldred in the side, McGuffey said.
He attempted to get back up, as deputies shouted for him to stay down, but he ultimately fell to the ground. McGuffey said he continued to struggle and fight with deputies as they handcuffed him and attempted to render life-saving aid.
WATCH: Our recap of the full body cam footage
He remains hospitalized in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
No officers were hurt during the exchange and McGuffey said the officers who fired shots were given time off and access to mental health care.
"Each and every one of them are doing well at this point," said McGuffey.
McGuffey said before lethal rounds were fired, officers used bean bag rounds to attempt to stop Eldred, and he was Tased once during the altercation.
"Our officers acted exactly as they were trained, they de-escalated," said McGuffey. "They did exactly he right thing."
Pillich also commended the deputies involved for how calm they remained throughout the encounter, and their attempts to use non-lethal tactics to stop Eldred before firing lethal rounds.
Eldred is charged with five counts of felonious assault in connection to the confrontation with deputies. The judge gave him a bond of $250,000 for each of the four charges.
