Man fatally shot by Whitehall police after he ‘reached for something’
WHITEHALL, Ohio (WCMH) – One man is dead after being shot by a Whitehall police officer early Friday.
According to Whitehall Chief of Police Mike Crispin, two officers were conducting a routine traffic stop about 2 a.m. when they heard gunfire nearby. Whitehall’s Shotspotter alerted the officers to the Roses Discount Store in the 4600 block of East Main Street.
When they arrived, police saw two cars, but one, a dark SUV, sped away immediately. Two officers approached the parked vehicle, a silver Honda Pilot, and found two men. It’s here that bodycams started recording video that the department released Friday afternoon.
One officer came to the car first on the driver’s side, followed by the other on the passenger’s side. The video showed the driver’s side officer asking if the pair spoke English, and they said no. The passenger’s side officer took a drink can from the man in that seat. The officers then asked in Spanish if the occupants had any handguns or drugs, and they replied no.
The pair of officers briefly pointed their flashlights into the backseats and then back toward the passengers. The video recorded the officer on the driver’s side alerting the other one that he spotted a “33,” a police code for a person with a gun.
The officers told both passengers to put their hands up in both Spanish and in English. After the driver’s side officer opened the car door, the driver complied and got out. The officer’s bodycam recorded him placing the man in handcuffs.
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When the passenger’s side officer pulled that door open, the bodycam recorded the passenger turn around toward the backseats. Both officers backed away quickly, drew their handguns and fired multiple shots. The driver’s side officer camera caught the car’s window glass shattering from the bullets.
“Officers told him to lift his hands up several times in both Spanish and English and still did not comply,” Crispin said. “It appears on the video he quickly spun around and reached for something, spun back toward the officer. The officer then responded to the threat. Shots were fired into the vehicle.”
A Whitehall police report said the passenger had reached for a gun and then turned toward the officer, and was struck by the officers’ gunfire. The man in the passenger seat, identified as 36-year-old Santiago Elias Alfaro Munoz, was taken to Mount Carmel East hospital but was pronounced dead a short time later. Neither officer was injured.
Several handguns were found inside the vehicle and police are still searching for the other SUV that fled the scene. However, police do not believe there is a threat to the public.
Police arrested the driver, 35-year-old William Morales Villatoro, on charges of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle. He was turned over to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.
“Plenty of officers are out. We don’t see any concerns for our citizens at this point,” Crispin said. “Everyone has been secured other than we don’t know anything about the vehicle that took off.”
Crispen said there are now two investigations. Whitehall PD will conduct a criminal investigation into that original report of shots fired. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation has taken on the case of the officers shooting and killing the man who did not comply with their comments.
Crsipen said the two officers involved are on administrative leave.
“That’s just protocol. It’s not because there’s a reason and it’s not because they did anything wrong. It’s just because that’s what we do to separate them. It’s tragic. It’s tragic both directions. And so it’s a very even they and as much as the families have some tragedy, they’ve got some tragedy because this is not what they came in to do today,” Crispen said.
The officers are not being named. Crispen said they each have one to three years experience with Whitehall police. This is the first officer involved shooting in Whitehall since 2018, according to Crispen.
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