Canton body camera footage shows man with pellet gun fatally shot by police

The Canton Police Department has released body camera footage of the Dec. 5 police shooting that killed Zachary Fornash.

Officer Garret Marino, an 8-year veteran of the force, responded to the 900 block of Alan Page Drive SE around 10 p.m. after residents flagged him down regarding a man who brandished a gun during an argument.

Body camera footage from that night starts with Marino in his car and ends with Fornash down on the ground, having been shot.

The entire clip runs 2 minutes 31 seconds.

What we learned about the shooting:

• Fifty-nine seconds into the clip, Marino stops his car, parks, jumps out and starts running towards Fornash. Marino radios to dispatch that Fornash has a gun.
• One minute and six seconds into the clip, Marino shouts at Fornash to get on the ground. "Get the f**k on the ground, you're gonna get shot," the officer yells.
• One minute and ten seconds in, Marino yells for Fornash to get on the ground and show his hands. Fornash ignores this and continues walking away but stops momentarily.
• One minute and 16 seconds in, Marino tells Fornash to put his hands on his head. Fornash, facing the officer at the time, had his right hand in the pouch of his hoodie and his left hand at his side. Fornash ignores the officer, turns and walks away.
• One minute and 21 seconds into the video, Fornash is commanded to put his hands on his head again. "Put your hands on your head now," Marino says.
• At one minute, 25 seconds into the footage, Fornash has his back to the officer as he walks away but then turns towards Marino, looking over his left shoulder. At this point, Marino fires multiple shots, and Fornash collapses on the ground.
• "Shots fired, shots fired," Marino radios dispatch. He then tells Fornash, who is down on his back lying on the ground, "Don't touch the gun," to which Fornash replies, "It's a BB gun."

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  Canton Police Department

• At 1 minute, 41 seconds, Marino radios dispatch for a medic. He tells Fornash to take his right hand out of his hoodie pocket. "Slowly out of your pocket," Marino says. "Slowly out of your pocket; do not bring the gun out with your hand." He repeats, "Do not bring the gun out with your hand." Fornash appears unable to move and limply waves his left hand around, his right hand still in his hoodie pocket.
• At 2 minutes and 10 seconds into the video, backup officers arrive. One of several arriving officers walks up and says, "I see it, hold on," and approaches Fornash. The officer bends down and pulls the BB gun out of Fornash's hoodie pocket.

Policing expert reviews footage

We talked to Philip Stinson, a criminal justice program professor at Bowling Green State University, about the video and the use of force Marino used, to which he said it appeared to be a justified shooting.

"These are tragic situations. A police officer is legally justified in using deadly force if the officer has a reasonable apprehension of an imminent threat of serious bodily injury or death being imposed against the officer or someone else. Here, the officer knew that the man was armed with a gun, and the man refused and disobeyed the officer’s commands to stop, get on the ground, and show him his hands. The man continued to talk away from the officer and the man’s hands were in his pockets. Then, the man turned toward his head toward the officer. At that time, in my opinion, the officer had a reasonable apprehension of an imminent threat. In that situation, I believe that an investigation will likely determine the officer was legally justified in using deadly force," Stinson said.

What happens now

Marino has been placed on administrative leave, per department policy.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation will investigate the shooting.

"I welcome the independent review of this incident and have confidence in the ability of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) to thoroughly and objectively investigate. All loss of life is tragic for our community, regardless of the circumstances, and my prayers are with the family of Mr. Fornash, Officer Marino, and all of those affected. My respect for the independence of the investigation limits my ability to comment further," Canton Police Chief John Gabbard said in a news release.