Ohio police officer on leave after shooting unarmed man multiple times, investigation underway: Officials
A police officer in Ohio is on leave after firing his gun multiple times at a man who is believed to have been unarmed, according to local officials.
An investigation into the incident, which took place in Akron, is underway, they said.
“Any time someone is seriously injured in an encounter with police -- even when responding to reports of a threat -- it is a serious and sobering event for our city. We owe it to the community to understand what happened and to learn from it," Shammas Malik, Akron's mayor, said in a statement on Tuesday.
The incident, which was captured on body camera footage that was released on Tuesday, began on Nov. 11 at approximately 9:03 p.m., when the Akron Police Department received multiple 911 calls regarding a "fight with a gun," police said.
Witnesses told officials that there was an "intoxicated man" who was "brandishing a gun in the parking lot and pointing it at them," according to police.
Once the responding officer arrived at the scene at approximately 9:14 p.m., he found the subject on the sidewalk near the reported location, authorities said.
The body camera footage then shows the officer -- who was not identified by officials -- ordering the man to remove his hands from his pockets. The man is then told to get on the ground or he is "going to get shot." After the man continues putting his hands near his pockets, the officer is seen firing multiple shots at the suspect seconds later.
Officers "rendered aid to the suspect prior to paramedics arriving" and he was then taken to a local hospital with "serious injuries," police said.
The officer involved in the shooting, who has approximately four years of police service, is now on paid administrative leave "per departmental procedure," according to officials.
After the footage of the shooting was released on Tuesday, the mayor said that the suspect was unarmed, noting that it is "our current understanding that he did not have a gun on his person at the time he encountered our officers, even though callers reported he was armed."
“I recognize how difficult and confusing this could be for many in our community, and I feel the weight of those concerns," Malik said.
While Malik said he respects the Akron police officers, he said there is "always room for improvement."
“I believe we can support our officers and hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards of safety and professionalism. Those goals are not in conflict. In fact, they strengthen one another," Malik said.
The Akron police chief also released a statement following the release of the body camera footage, saying he is "thankful for the work of our officers" and that “responding to calls for a suspect threatening community members with a gun is one of the highest risk situations we encounter.”
“We have high standards in the Akron Police Department and that includes a belief that there is always room for improvement; always lessons to be learned, including in this incident," Akron Police Chief Brian Harding said in a statement on Tuesday. "The goal of the ongoing review of our use of force policies, practices, training and procedures is to provide us with recommendations about the best possible ways to approach dynamic and dangerous situations."
As of Tuesday, Akron police officers are in the final weeks of their "Integrating, Communications, Assessment and Tactics (de-escalation) training" and they "remain committed to the difficult conversations around complex situations like this one," Harding said.
The man injured in the shooting was identified by a family member as 36-year-old Corey Phillips, who remains in the hospital, according to ABC Cleveland affiliate WEWS.
Tessa King, who shares six children with Phillips, told WEWS she demands answers for the shooting, saying Phillips has a "massive recovery" ahead of him.
"Is there no training in our local police to shoot once to get someone down?" King told WEWS. "There has to be another way that these situations can be handled."
The Bureau of Criminal Investigations responded to the scene and is now conducting an investigation in the shooting, according to authorities. Once their investigation is complete, the case will then be submitted to the Ohio Attorney General's Office for review before it is taken to the Summit County Grand Jury for evaluation, officials said.
The Akron Police Department did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.
