When police arrived at the scene, the son fled from the home through a back door. He was located by a Fairfield police officer one street over in the 2000 block of Saint Andrews Court, according to police. A Fairfield police officer fired two shots and the victim was hit and died at the scene, according to police.
The 23-year-old victim was described only as a white male by police, who refused to release the man’s name. Relatives identified the man as Caleb Surface, a former Fairfield High School student.
“He was a good kid with a huge heart,” said Angie Kelley, Surface’s aunt. “He struggled with depression and he was unhappy. Life hasn’t been easy on him lately.”
Kelley said she was curious to see the final police report and confused by conflicting reports regarding whether or not her nephew was armed.
“At this point I really don’t understand what happened only that he’s definitely gone,” she said. “His father says he was not armed. From what I understand, he ran from the home and I just can’t imagine him threatening or hurting someone. He’s not a combative person. He wouldn’t harm a soul.”
Neighbors at the end of the quiet cul de sac said they were alerted to the incident after hearing two quick, loud, unmistakably “high-caliber” gunshots.
“It was distinctive, like ‘Boom! Boom!,’” said one neighbor, Mike Nagy. Nagy said he opened his front door to investigate and spotted a body in the street just a few feet away from the cul de sac’s storm drain.
“I yelled out ‘Is that a young boy laying there?” he said. “It kind of gives me chills thinking about it. That’s when both policemen said ‘Just stay in your house! Stay in your house!’ so that I did.”
Like Nagy and other neighbors on the block, Mark Crittenden said nothing like this has ever happened during his many years of living in the quiet, unassuming community, where everyone knows each other.
“Worst thing that’s happened here is a few car break-ins but that was because they left it unlocked and they left something in there,” Crittenden said. “It’s (been) nothing major.”
The officer who fired the fatal shots, a 10-year veteran to the Fairfield Police Department, has been placed on administrative leave as the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Fairfield police conduct an official investigation.
Fairfield Police Officer Doug Day and Ohio BCI spokeswoman Jill Del Greco both said they could not provide the name of the officer or any other further information on the investigation at this time.
The results of the investigation will be sent to the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office and the city attorney for review, according to police.
Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser said when he took office, he informed all police agencies any officer-involved shooting would be reviewed by a grand jury.
“This case will be handled no differently and it is not an implication of wrong doing by the fact that the protocol I established is being followed,” Gmoser said.
Reporter Lauren Pack contributed to this article
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