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Cops Shoot, Kill Man Assaulting Woman With Hammer

HAMILTON, OH – More details from the shooting in which a police officer had to use deadly force to stop a brutal attack are expected to be released at about 10 a.m. this morning, Hamilton police said.

A 25-year-old man was shot and killed early Sunday morning, April 25, by a Hamilton police officer after the man ignored demands to stop beating his 23-year-old girlfriend with a hammer.

According to a report by WKRC Local 12, a friend of the man who was shot dead he believes the violent attack with which the man is accused may have resulted from extreme stress at work.

Police have not yet released the names of those involved, including the officer who fired the fatal shot and was put on routine administrative leave.

Officers were dispatched at 3:51 a.m. to a report of an assault at the Princeton Square Apartments, in the 2000 block of Princeton Road. Police said officers saw the man beating the woman with a hammer.

An officer fired one shot in the chest of the man; he was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Hamilton police spokesman Sgt. Craig Bucheit.

“(Officers) told him to drop the hammer. He didn’t comply and they were forced to take action to help prevent any further harm to the girl,” Bucheit said.

Police said the woman sustained serious head injuries and was transported by medical helicopter to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton.

Neighbors said the man and woman had moved into the apartment about four days before the deadly incident.

“We went to bed around 1:30 a.m. and we still didn’t hear anything,” said Ali Bergherger, who was at a friend’s apartment across the hall.

A neighbor upstairs, who didn’t want to provide his name, was surprised he didn’t hear anything, including a gunshot. He was awakened by lights and sirens.

Micah Parker, who lives in another building within the complex, said nothing like this has happened in the year he’s lived there. Parker said he’s disheartened by the violence.

“I think we’ve seen enough violence,” Parker said.

An autopsy is scheduled at 9:30 a.m. today, April 26.