MANSFIELD, OH — Early Saturday morning, Mansfield police officers were involved in a shooting that left a man, who was later identified as Michael Oswalt II, dead.
Just before 2 a.m., officers responded to Cline Avenue for a report of domestic violence, police said. Upon arrival, they encountered Oswalt with a knife at the door.
“I woke up and I looked outside and I saw these police cars pull up. They blocked the street off," according to Frasier Johnson, who lives next door to the duplex.
Oswalt fled back into the residence, which was occupied by his girlfriend and her two small children, police said. Hostage negotiators and the Richland County ASORT team arrived on the scene to attempt to negotiate with the man.
“And then I heard them over the PA thing telling him to come outside with his hands up," said Johnson.
During three hours of attempting to negotiate, Oswalt released the two children, police said.
Shortly after, the girlfriend attempted to escape from Oswalt, which led to officers fatally shooting him, police said.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is conducting the investigation, and more information will be released as it becomes available, police said.
Police say Oswalt appeared to be under the influence.
“I’m not sure what drug he was on, but he never acted like that around me," said Johnson. "They say he was on some type of drug, but I remember they had a standoff before with him in Columbus.”
The incident Johnson is talking about is confirmed by several other people who know of the incident in the neighborhood. It occurred in August along I-70 and I-71 in Columbus.
According to Columbus police, Oswalt rammed several vehicles with a snowplow attached to his pickup truck. He also threw objects at cars and officers during the standoff on the highway and, at one point, threatened to jump off the ramp from I-70 to I-71.
Detectives wrote at the time that Oswalt appeared to be suffering from a "mental health crisis."
