Screen shot of body-worn camera footage showing the seconds leading up to the Nov. 11, 2025, police shooting of a 36-year-old man in Ellet.
Screen shot of body-worn camera footage showing the moment an Akron police officer fired 15 rounds, striking a 36-year-old man in Ellet on Nov. 11, 2025.
News out of Ohio

An Ohio police officer fired his weapon 15 times, repeatedly striking a 36-year-old man who appeared to be unarmed, body-camera footage from the Nov. 11 incident shows.

Police were responding to a 911 caller who reported a man was in the parking lot of Karam’s Lounge on Albrecht Avenue in Akron, pointing a firearm inside the bar, when the shooting happened.

The Akron Police Department on Nov. 18 released the bodycam footage and a 911 call from the incident in Ellet.

In total, the incident was about 20 seconds from the moment the officer stepped out of the cruiser to the second he opened fire. It took about 2½ minutes for officers to make physical contact with the man; that’s when officers handcuffed him, searched him, removed his jacket and shirt and awaited aid.

Based on the available footage, it did not appear that officers recovered a firearm.

The man is in critical condition. Signal Akron reported that he underwent multiple surgeries for his injuries.

The officer who shot the man has four years of police service, with his last year in Akron, according to the Akron Police Department. He is now on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation investigation.

BCI will turn its findings over to the Ohio Attorney General's Office before being submitted to the Summit County Grand Jury for review. The Akron Police Department's Office of Professional Standards and Accountability will conduct a separate internal investigation, with the results being provided to the Akron police chief and the city of Akron police auditor.

What did the 911 caller say?

Identifying herself as the bartender at Karam's Lounge, a female caller told a dispatcher that she locked the doors because a man was in the parking lot with a gun, aiming it through the windows.

"He tried to shoot, but it didn't shoot. I don't know if he has the safety on," the woman said. "He's pulling on the door."

She said the man was "acting very strange" and nodded off. He had one drink.

"I asked him to leave, and he got flipping weird. He's still walking out there and saying, 'Yeah, I'm going back to prison tonight,'" she said

Interaction before shooting lasts about 20 seconds

The officer exited his cruiser at about 9:14 p.m. and pointed his firearm at a man in a zipped-up hooded jacket. The man held his right hand at his chest, resting it on the zipper.

"Get your (expletive) hands out of your pocket!" the officer yelled. "Stop where you are. Get your hands out of your (expletive) pocket."

The man put his hands up.

"Get the (expletive) on the ground right now," the officer commanded. "You’re going to get shot. Get on the ground or you're gonna get shot."

The man leaned over but stood back up and spoke.

"Hey, don't yell at me, bro," the man said as he raised his right hand back up to his chest.

"Get out of your pockets," the officer said, walking to the right. "Hey, get out of your pockets."

Just as the officer finished that sentence, he opened fire, shooting 15 times in rapid succession. The man immediately staggered back, spun around and flailed before hitting the ground.

The officer radioed that shots were fired, and the suspect was down. While on the ground, the man groaned and yelled, "Oh, my God!"

"Hey, get your hands out," the officer yelled. "Get your hands out of your pockets. You're going to get shot again. Get your hands up."

"I can't," the man replied before another officer yelled at him to put his hands up.

At 9:16 p.m., officers approached the man. The officer who opened fire asked about the gun.

"I never had a gun," the man said, lying on his back and groaning. "I never had a gun.

Officers rolled him over and handcuffed him. Searching for a gun, officers went through his pockets, but they did not appear to find a firearm. After unzipping his jacket and taking off his shirt, multiple gunshot wounds are seen on the man's chest and abdomen.

After the shooting, bullet casings littered the ground. A nearby fence had multiple bullet holes.

Chief of police, Akron mayor release statements

Chief Brian Harding thanked all Akron officers for their work, noting it was a difficult and dangerous job that involved “split-second decisions.”

“We have high standards in the Akron Police Department and that includes a belief that there is always room for improvement; always lessons to be learned, including in this incident,” Harding said in a prepared statement.

The police department is in the final weeks of their Integrating, Communications, Assessment, and Tactics (de-escalation) training, he said.

In a separate statement, Akron Mayor Shammas Malik said that it appeared the man was unarmed, but BCI will determine whether he had a firearm before the police encounter.

"This incident underscores why we are undertaking a comprehensive review of APD’s use-of-force policies, practices, and procedures. Even when actions may meet legal standards, we must always ask: What can we learn? What is the best way to approach challenging situations? How can we improve training, tactics and systems to help us achieve the safest possible outcomes?" Malik said.

"We owe it to the community to understand what happened and to learn from it.  We can't control every factor in volatile, high-risk situations.  But we can control how we prepare our officers, how we train them, and how we equip them to de-escalate, make sound decisions under pressure and return home safely," Malik said.

Bryce Buyakie covers courts and public safety for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at bbuyakie@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @bryce_buyakie.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Bodycam footage shows Ohio police officer shot at man 15 times

Reporting by Bryce Buyakie, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal

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