Police officers in Wyoming, Ohio are under investigation after a 28-year-old man died on Tuesday, January 31, a day after he was gunned down by officers who thought he was a burglar. His family said the man was only there to help clean out his late grandmother’s apartment.
Joe Frasure was shot early Monday morning in Wyoming, Ohio. He was rushed to the hospital for treatment, but according to the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office, he died on Tuesday.
Wyoming police said they got a 911 call at around 1 am reporting that two or three people were breaking into a house on Durrell Avenue. Responding officers arrived at the apartment, which the 911 caller said was supposed to be vacant, and heard some activity at the building’s rear.
Wyoming Police Chief Brooke Brady said the officers went to the back of the building, where they found two men in the rear driveway, later identified as Joe Frasure Jr. and his father.
In a video statement, Chief Brady said Frasure was inside a minivan and refused to listen to the officer’s commands when they asked him to exit the vehicle. She said the minivan reversed, hit a tree behind it, and then accelerated at high speed toward the officers.
She said the officers acted in self-defense when they shot four times at the minivan, which was speeding toward them.
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office said Frasure was hit by the bullets, after which the car crashed into the building.
Chief Brady said the officers got into the car while it was still smoking and pulled Frasure out of the van. The officers performed CPR before transporting him to the hospital.
Authorities have not yet released the cause of death.
Chief Brady said she had looked at the body cam footage of the incident and shared the video with the Hamilton County Prosecutors’ office and the Hamilton Sheriff’s office, which were investigating the incident.
Frasure’s family has disputed the police account that he was a burglary suspect. They said he was at the apartment with his father and sister, clearing out their grandmother’s vacant house.
Frasure’s sister, Shonda Coleman, told reporters that she did not hear police issue any commands, saying that all she heard were gunshots. Coleman demanded that authorities release body cam footage of the incident.
Frasure’s family and friends held a protest outside the Wyoming Police Department on Wednesday, February 2, demanding to see the body cam footage.
Frasure’s brother said he just wants to know why his brother had to die.
