TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo officials released officer body-camera footage and 911 call recordings from Wednesday's fatal police shooting of an armed man in west Toledo.
"This is hard to hear," Interim Police Chief Michael Troendle said at a Friday news conference before playing the recording of the 911 call from the wife of Jason Means, 47. The woman, Nicole Rahmel, called for help from the roof of the home in the 5700 block of Hill Avenue, where she said she was hiding from Means.
In the recording, Rahmel says she may have been shot herself and pleads with authorities not to shoot Means, whom she said was having mental health problems.
"Please don't shoot him!" the woman can be heard saying repeatedly to the dispatcher.
After the footage and recordings were released, Rahmel told WTOL 11 she repeatedly said not to shoot Means.
"I kept yelling at them, I said 'he doesn't understand you,'" she said. "I said, 'he has a mental disorder, he does not understand verbal commands please do not shoot him, please use non-lethal force, and I kept screaming it and screaming it.
Full news conference below. CAUTION: Some viewers may find the content graphic in nature.
Upon arrival, officers made contact with Means outside of the residence. Means was armed with a shotgun, police claim.
"Jason! Jason, we're the police we're here to help you!" an officer can be heard yelling at Means.
Many officers can then be heard yelling for Means to drop his gun before the video shows Means raising his weapon at police and officers shoot Means.
Seven officers fired at Means, the interim chief said: Sgt. James Taylor, Sgt. Kevin Currie, Officer Justin Volz, Officer Thomas McCafferty, Officer Jacob Wescott, Officer Adam Yarnell and Officer Jacoby Whitacre.
An autopsy performed by the Lucas County Coroner's Office determined Means was shot 22 times in the head, torso, left arm, and left and right legs.
"We are trained to stop the threat and we fire until there is no more threat," Troendle said.
Officers had to consider that not only was Means a threat to them and to his family, but he was near a busy intersection with many people, Troendle said. At one point in the video, a motorist is seen passing behind Means while carrying his weapon.
Officers asked Means to put the gun down more than 25 times, Troendle said.
"It's a tragic day for the entire community," Troendle said.