Officers Cleared in Trumbull County Fatal Shooting>

In a recent ruling, the Trumbull County prosecutor’s office deemed the actions of officers involved in the fatal shooting of 55-year-old Shawn Thomas on October 3, 2023, as appropriate and justified. The decision followed an investigation by Prosecutor Dennis Watkins’ team, including Assistant Prosecutor Charles Morrow, into the conduct of a Vienna Township police officer and an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper. Thomas, who had fled into a wooded area behind his home armed with two shotguns, was shot once in the chest around 10:30 p.m. after authorities were called to address a domestic violence incident and threats made by Thomas. He was later pronounced dead at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.
The investigation, supported by special agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations, included interviews with both officers and other witnesses, as well as reviews of body-worn camera footage, surveillance video, and 911 communications. The postmortem revealed Thomas had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.207 and various prescription medications in his system. The Mahoning County Coroner’s Office classified his death as a homicide caused by a gunshot wound to the chest.
Watkins emphasized that the officers were justified in using lethal force, as Thomas posed an immediate threat to their safety and that of others.