WELLINGTON, Ohio — An investigation is underway in Wellington, a village in Lorain County about 10 miles south of Oberlin, after a police officer shot a man seen on police body camera advancing towards officers with a knife.
On Monday, Wellington Police released the body camera footage of the shooting, with the information presented by Chief Tim Barfield via Facebook.
At the beginning of the release, Barfield stated the department had responded numerous times leading up to the shooting.
"The department had responded to that address 19 times since October 2021," he said. "Many of the calls that we responded to were about a mental health crisis that somebody was dealing with, that residents are involved."
In the presented video, the man comes out of his house holding a knife. An officer first fires a TASER at the man.
Following the deployment of the TASER, there is no change in the response from the man. As a result, one of the two officers on-scene fired two shots at him.
After the man fell to the ground, the officer who fired the shots then gave aid to the man by applying pressure to his wounds. She is also seen praying over him.
The man is in stable condition, Barfield said.
This is the first officer-involved shooting in the Village of Wellington since 1959, according to police.
The shooting took place in the 400 block of Courtland Street around 6:45 p.m., according to the Wellington Police Deparment. Mayor Hans Schneider told News 5 that two officers responded to an issue at a residence that was called in by neighbors.
"Indications are that the suspect came at the officer with a weapon," Schneider said. "One of the officers responded."
No officers were injured. The department is working on providing professional counseling for those who were at the scene.
"But really, it's going to be a mental thing, especially for the officer that made that shot," the mayor said. "We have concern for everybody. The suspect, obviously, we hope is okay. And the officers, when they make a shot like that, it can be tough mentally. So my thoughts and prayers are with them right now."
The man shot was alert at the time he was life-flighted to MetroHealth Medical Center.
The Lorain County Sheriff's Office has taken over the investigation, placing markers and taking photos at the scene. Meanwhile, the two officers involved in the shooting will be placed on administrative leave for at least the next three days.
Neighbors at the scene, as well as the mayor, said there has been a history of police presence at the home on Courtland Street, but no incident ever escalated to the level it did Saturday evening.
Amid the ongoing incident, Schneider had a message for the small community.
"I think it's a rarity for here. This clearly doesn't happen a lot anywhere and certainly doesn't happen often here in Wellington," Schneider said. "I think there's a message to not just this community, but to everybody. And part of that message is the police department is here to assist and to help. And we never expect this type of incident, but we're trained to handle it. So, it's a two-sided thing."
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