MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (WXIX) – Middletown police are cleared in the fatal shooting of a man who pointed a gun at them on May 27, Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser confirms to FOX19 NOW.
“This case,” he said Wednesday, “should serve as fair warning to all offenders involved in criminal activities that pointing a firearm at a police officer in the performance of his duties will be met with lethal and justified use of force to eliminate the threat. Such use of force is very likely to result in the justified death of the offender.”
A Butler County grand jury determined no criminal charge is warranted and the shooting death of Michael Baker is justified after considering all evidence from an independent investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), according to Gmoser.
It happened when police went to a home on Garden Avenue with a court-authorized warrant to search it for illegal drug activity.
“At the time of attempted entry into the subject residence, Michael Baker, age 47, pointed a loaded .38 caliber revolver at a uniformed Middletown Police officer and Michael Baker was immediately shot twice, resulting in his death a short time later,” Gmoser said in a news release Wednesday.
“A key factor in the investigation was not just the superior investigative ability of the BCI agent in charge of the independent review, but also the evidence obtained from the video body camera of the officer who shot Michael Baker and the technical ability of BCI to enhance the detail of the video.
“The decision of the Middletown Police Department to use police officer body cameras and the decision of that department to use BCI cannot be overstated, without which objective evidence may not have been obtained.”
A woman inside the home was hurt from bullet shrapnel to her ankle but was expected to recover, according to a police union representative.
This is the third police-involved shooting in Middletown since early 2023 and one of several in the Tri-State this year.
Grand jury reviews have determined Middletown’s two prior ones were justified.
Gmoser has repeatedly said he automatically takes all police-involved shootings in Butler County to a grand jury for review to ensure public transparency.
He also prefers that law enforcement agencies ask BCI to investigate and not handle their own shootings.
Gmoser praised Middletown’s police chief the same day as the May 27 shooting for immediately reaching out to BCI.
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