RELATED: Chief: Hamilton officer shoots, kills man who confronts him with a knife
On Sunday afternoon, Luttrell walked barefoot across the parking lot and placed a dandelion in the grassy area in memory of her neighbor who died about 21 hours earlier.
“It’s almost unbelievable,” she said. “Somebody died right there.”
The names of the man who was killed and the police officer who fired the deadly shot weren’t released Sunday afternoon. An autopsy will be performed by the Butler County Coroner’s Office and Hamilton Police Chief Craig Bucheit said the officer’s name will be released Monday.
The police officer was not wearing a body camera, but investigators will review the cruiser camera, Bucheit said.
Police responded to the apartment complex on a report that someone had been shot at around 3 p.m. Saturday.
Bucheit said when the officer arrived, “he was immediately confronted by an armed subject.”
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That person was armed with what was described as a butcher knife, police said.
“There was a brief confrontation and in that confrontation the officer discharged his weapon,” Bucheit said.
Francis Adu, 41, another resident of the complex, said he didn’t see any weapon in the man’s hands seconds before the shooting.
Adu said a Hamilton police cruiser — without its lights or sirens activated — pulled in behind him in the complex and parked his vehicle in the parking lot. Adu parked his car in front of his apartment, and watched from his car as the man, shirtless and wearing a black scarf around his face, took two steps toward the officer with his arms in the air, he said.
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Adu said the officer fired twice and hit the victim in the stomach. The man fell into a grassy area near the parking lot, Adu said. Adu pointed to the area and said the grass was still blood-stained.
The man died at the scene and no other shooting victims were found, according to police.
Seconds later, several Hamilton police officers responded to the complex, Adu said. He said residents came out of their apartments and started filming the police activity with their cell phones.
Adu said he was interviewed by detectives at the Hamilton police station on Saturday. He spent most of Saturday night telling his friends on the phone what he had witnessed.
“It’s bad,” he said Sunday. “A human life was gone just that fast. You don’t know when your last day will be. He was walking, then a few seconds later, he was dead.”
He will never forget what he witnessed.
“First time I ever heard guns,” he said.
He was heading to church Sunday afternoon to pray for “more grace,” he said.
“You don’t know if tomorrow will be your last step,” he said.
Adu described the apartment complex as “very quiet” and said he only sees residents if they’re getting into their cars or taking out trash.
“It’s a very nice, quiet place,” he said. “You don’t hear of this stuff around here.”
