The sword-wielding naked man who was shot by officers Wednesday in Dayton has been identified

Dayton, Ohio – The Dayton Police Department Agency has disclosed the identity of the unclothed man who was wielding a sword and was subsequently shot by their officers on Wednesday.

The individual, reported to have menacingly lunged at the police officers right from his residence brandishing a historical, medieval-type sword, is confirmed to be David Showalter, aged 34.

Footage distributed by the Dayton Police reveals Showalter, bare and defenseless, charging at Dayton patrolmen Joshua Blankley and John Griffin as they disembarked from their patrol cars on Suman Avenue, slightly after the hour of 5 in the evening.

As Showalter advances, he threateningly brandishes his sword towards the officers. In reaction, the officers respond by firing at him, striking his lower torso.

Following the incident, Showalter received medical attention at a local hospital and is now grappling with severe injuries resulting from the gunshot wounds.

Dayton’s chief of police, Kamran Afzal, elaborated on the department’s standard protocol concerning the use of deadly force.

“There’s no option of not responding to this scene,” Afzal said. “We got to go. That’s the service we provide, protecting the people from unsafe acts committed by somebody else. That’s the standard. Another standard is, was the force used reasonably? Was it proportional? Is this necessary?”

Afzal additionally expressed that this occurrence validated their past year’s training focusing on the principle of ‘time equals distance’ as effective, especially in such situations.

The task of carrying out the criminal probe into this incident has been entrusted to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s office, as the Dayton Police Department concurrently conducts an internal investigation.

The Montgomery County prosecutor will be the one to lodge charges pertaining to the purported aggressive charge towards the officers.

You can watch the full Dayton police press conference on the incident here.

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