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SOUTHINGTON -- The Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office has determined that no action will be taken against the officers involved in a Nov. 14 officer-related shooting.
According to a news release, the death of John Adams, 56, was determined to be "suicide by cop," after a review of First Assistant Prosecutor Chris Becker's report, the Ohio Attorney General's file and the Portage County Coroner's report.
Braceville Police were dispatched to the 1300 block of State Route 534 in response to a man waving a firearm while standing in the road.
The officers, along with two individuals who knew Adams, tried to deescalate the situation, but he refused to cooperate or put down his firearm.
Adams, after being tased in the back, turned toward the officers and pointed the firearm in their direction, and three officers fired at him, causing him to fall to the ground.
Adams was taken to University Hospital-Portage Medical Center, where he later died, and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation's Force Investigations and Crime Scene units conducted an independent investigation of the shooting.
INVESTIGATION
The release states the first call in reference to Adams was logged at 4:52, when a bondsman who helped Adams' girlfriend called and said Adams had called him to say he ruined his life, adding that Adams called for five hours and told him that he planned on shooting himself.
Four 911 calls were received regarding him, all reporting that Adams was in the roadway stopping traffic and two specifying he had a gun.
A witness traveling southbound on 534 said he didn't realize Adams had a gun until his vehicle got near him and Adams was pointing it at their vehicle, telling investigators that Adams kept screaming at officers to back up or he'd kill himself.
The witness told investigators that Adams swung around and pointed the gun at officers as soon as he was tased.
Another witness, whom Adams recognized as his close friend's niece, said he expressed his suicidal ideation to her, and she contacted her uncle, who arrived before a Braceville officer and Sheriff's Deputy.
The witness said the law enforcement officers tried to talk with Adams, but he said he was serious about ending his life -- adding that Adams warned the sheriff that he would shoot himself before he could do so.
She recalled that Adams, at one point, tried to approach her uncle with the intent to listen to him.
"Johnny started to walk to my uncle, 'cause he was, he said, 'Todd's my best friend. I'll listen to him. I want to go to him.' So, Johnny started walking to Todd and when he did that, the one sheriff was like, 'I don't like that you have a gun. Why don't you put it down?'" The witness said. "And Johnny turned and said, 'No'. Started walking and they shot and they tasered him.
"And when after they tasered him, he turned around and I'm pretty sure he shot. He shot, I don't know how many times, but then they shot him."
The witness's uncle said Adams, who would occasionally move the gun to his head, would then point it down, leading the deputies to yell at him to stop pointing it at them.
The witness said another deputy came with a rifle and pointed it at Adams -- which is when the witness thought the incident escalated.
Adams continued to approach him after a deputy removed him from the area, and officers yelled at him to stop, with one eventually tasing him.
The witness said Adams fired his gun one time in his presence -- toward a grassy area away from the road, not directed at anyone.
The witness told officers that Adams had lost a family member five years prior to the incident, and he was upset that someone had stolen $112,000 from him.
The release states that all four officers at the scene used some level of force, with one deputy using his stungun to subdue Adams.
The deputy said he had one prior involvement with Adams earlier that year, a call for service on a stolen car, adding that he was very pleasant that day, with no issues.
The deputy said day-turn deputies had been dispatched to his residence the morning of the incident, unable to locate him there.
The deputy said he didn't understand Adams' relationship with the witness, but said providing a civilian to a man with a gun would create a bigger issue.
The deputy said he intended to use the stungun's shock to allow law enforcement to seize the firearm from Adams, but it was not effective on Adams, who turned with the gun in his hand -- and he heard the shots ring out.
"I know I tried to holster, or I did holster the taser, went for my firearm," the deputy said. "By that time, I think it was already over, at that point."
A detective on the scene, like others present, said she felt she did not have an alternative to lethal force after Adams fired his weapon, adding that she didn't feel he was shooting at her specifically, but at one of the deputies to either side of her.
The release states only one officer was equipped with a body cam, the detective, and her video footage was reviewed, not showing any material inconsistencies with the statements from witnesses and officers.
Laboratory analysis revealed that, considering the recovered firearms, cartridge casings and bullet fragments recovered during the investigation, Adams had fired at least four shots at the scene.
The release concludes by stating the incident was a classic case of suicide by cop, noting that while it was tragic that Adams was not able to obtain the help he needed after the loss of a family member, the case's fact was he was 'hell-bent' on committing suicide by cop."
Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins wrote that his office found that the officers' use of force was reasonable given the circumstances, and as such, the investigation will be closed without any action against the officers involved.