He said the officers are expected to be interviewed today, March 1. Birk didn’t say whether their names would be released today.
But Steve Irwin, spokesman for BCI, said the agency never releases the names of officers involved in incidents under investigation because they are uncharged suspects. It may be months before the BCI releases its findings related to the shooting, Irwin said.
He said the length of the investigation depends on the “scale of the incident.” Typically, he said, the results would be forwarded to the prosecutor within 60 to 90 days.
Following a traffic stop around 5:15 p.m. Saturday at 2900 Towne Blvd., Middletown police shot and killed Victor Lykins, 47, of Middletown. He was identified Monday morning by Warren County Coroner Dr. Russell Uptegrove after an autopsy was performed over the weekend at the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.
Birk said shots were fired by an officer at the two occupants inside the vehicle, killing Lykins. The other person in the SUV, Lykins’ brother, was not injured.
Because the incident occurred in Warren County, the investigation results will go to Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell for review. He was at the scene Saturday night.
No Middletown police officers were injured, Birk said. Two officers involved in the traffic stop are on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, which is standard procedure, according to Birk.
This was the first fatal police-involved shooting in Middletown since 1997 when Bill Becker was police chief and the department conducted the investigation that eventually cleared the officer involved.
In October of that year, police officer Aaron McQueen shot and killed Micah Lofton after the car Lofton was driving rammed a police cruiser and then headed for McQueen near the dead end of Plymouth Avenue, according to newspaper archives.
McQueen was cleared of any wrongdoing, but he left the police department a short time later, Becker said.
