Akron deputy police chief details grisly aftermath of officer-involved shooting

With the barrels of their guns just inside the side entrance doorway of a Ritchie Avenue home, two Akron officers fired four rounds.

An autopsy would later confirm that Lawrence LeJames Rodgers, 21, was struck twice in the torso and twice in his left arm. Body camera footage of the Feb. 22 incident showed what police believed at the time to be a handgun in Rodgers’ right hand.

Officers said he had brandished the weapon at his side when they first encountered him shortly before 3 a.m. at the side entrance of the home off Copley Road in West Akron. But when he last appeared, the gun was up and facing the officers, who’d given multiple commands to drop the weapon before using lethal force.

That’s where publicly released clips of body camera footage end in the fatal officer-involved shooting. The videos were posted within a week of the incident per a city ordinance that limits clips to 60 seconds before the use of deadly force.

Police say that what happened next — footage that hasn't been released yet to the public — stopped the two officers who fired and the other six surrounding the home from pursuing Rodgers as he disappeared into the living room.

Within two seconds of discharging their firearms, officers heard eight gunshots from inside.

“The officers were afraid they could be walking up the steps into an ambush,” Deputy Police Chief Brian Harding told the Beacon Journal on Thursday. “The suspect may have still been inside with the weapon, armed. And he may have a hostage. That’s [why] we would use a SWAT team at that point.”

Harding explained that SWAT was called within minutes of the eight-round burst. The tactical team arrived at about 4 a.m.

A negotiator tried for the next two hours to get anyone inside to respond. Shortly after 6 a.m., a camera-mounted robot found two motionless bodies in the living room.

Tactical paramedics entered. SWAT officers cleared the home of any other occupants.

Harding said investigators found Rodgers’ cousin, Raymond Jones, slumped over on the couch. The 38-year-old man died of three gunshot wounds to the face, two in the left shoulder and three more in the right shoulder and chest.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation collected multiple shell casings on the floor in front of Jones. Rodgers’ body was found lying on a handgun in a corner of the same room. The number of bullets missing from the clip of the gun coincided with the number of shots that killed Jones, said Harding, who could not comment further with ballistic and other reports pending.

Motive still unknown

Officer-involved shootings are rare, Harding said, occurring on average less than once a year in Akron. Police don't know what led to this one, which ended in what's been ruled a double homicide.

Rodgers' family, who say they've argued for the release of the full body camera footage and 911 recordings, said the 21-year-old was celebrating his birthday with Jones and Jones' two brothers, who are all cousins of Rodgers.

"There was an argument inside," said Harding, who oversees criminal investigations for the Akron Police Department. "I don’t know that we’ll ever know exactly what was going through [Rodgers'] mind at the time."

Rodgers' sister, who listened to the snippets of the 911 calls, said Rodgers did not appear to be "in his right mind."

'Incredible restraint'

An unknown caller from inside the home dialed 911 at 2:40 a.m. The operator heard a disagreement. Police arrived at 2:47 a.m. and took two of the brothers into custody for their own safety after they fled the home.

The brothers reportedly told police that Rodgers was inside, armed and threatening to kill their brother.

Police shot Rodgers within three minutes of arriving on scene. The minute-long clips capture officers' multiple commands for Rodgers to exit the home unarmed.

Harding and other ranking officers said the patrolmen who fired their weapons, each with about two years of service, exercised “incredible restraint” by not firing earlier and, instead, forcefully encouraging Rodgers to come outside.

The two officers are on paid leave pending a routine internal investigation, which will be turned over to the Office of the Ohio Attorney General for review when complete.

'That needs to be released'

Lt. Mike Miller informed the Beacon Journal that the city law department is working on a records request for the full body camera footage of the officers who fired.

"That’s the footage that needs to be released, the footage where the other shots rang out," said Rodgers' sister, Lakendra Williams. "That’s the footage we’ve been asking for."

Council unanimously passed the body camera release ordinance last year, intending to increase transparency and accountability in policing while building trust with the community. Akron Council President Margo Sommerville said Thursday that the legislation's limit on requiring only clips to be posted is an example of why city lawmakers may have to “go back, reexamine" and possibly "make adjustments to the ordinance.”

"The ordinance as it is gives us the opportunity to quickly get out the information to the public for them to view 60 seconds prior to the incident," Sommerville said. "But, of course, if you want to get the full entire picture, it’s still available but having to go through a public records request to do so."

Reach reporter Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3792.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron police detail grisly aftermath of officer-involved shooting