This story has been updated with additional information and to add bodycam video.
The man who was shot and killed by West Chester police officers on June 4 has been identified.
West Chester police held a press conference June 5 and announced that Lorenzo Miller, 39, was the man who police killed with a single gunshot at an apartment complex on the 9000 block of Zinnia Court.
Officers were called to the apartment around 9:50 p.m. on June 4 after a resident reported a woman screaming for help inside a neighboring apartment, officials said in a news release.
Multiple angles of bodycam footage were played at the press conference, which showed officers arriving at the apartment, knocking on the door and announcing their presence before making their way inside.
Officers were performing a “protective search” of the apartment out of concern for the residents’ safety, the release said. The bodycam footage showed officers finding Miller inside a bathroom holding a knife to a woman’s throat.
Officers entered the bathroom and shot Miller one time to free the 31-year-old woman.
Miller was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman was taken to a hospital with minor injuries and has since been released, Police Chief Brian Rebholz said at the conference.
Rebholz also said that Miller had a history of violent offenses, including aggravated murder and involuntary manslaughter. He was on parole at the time of the deadly shooting.
Four officers, who were involved in the incident, have been placed on administrative leave, Rebholz added.
West Chester township has requested that the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation conduct an independent investigation into the shooting.
Jess Hamm has lived with her husband at the apartment complex for three years. Hamm only found out about the incident from her neighbors the next day. She was home June 4 but didn’t hear anything. Her corgi didn’t even bark.
It’s the kind of complex where everybody knows each other, Hamm said, but she didn’t know the people who lived in the apartment where Miller was shot.
The complex is only about a five-minute drive from the police department, and at night it’s well-lit, Eric Hamm said. “Crazy stuff happens everywhere. You can’t control it.” He said.
Perry Surber has lived in the complex for seven years. He was listening to the Grateful Dead when the shooting happened and didn’t know about it until he turned on his car radio the next morning.
“I’m really glad there was a concerned citizen,” Surber said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Officials ID 39-year-old man shot, killed by West Chester police
Reporting by Aaron Valdez and Gillian Stawiszynski, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Aaron Valdez and Gillian Stawiszynski, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
