A Friday night domestic-dispute call in Willoughby ended with police gunfire and the death of a 45-year-old man who officers said came toward them holding a knife. The shooting happened around 9:30 p.m. in the 5100 block of Robinhood Drive, turning a residential disturbance into a fatal officer-involved shooting now headed for an independent state investigation.
According to Cleveland.com, officers were called after a male resident contacted Lake County Central Dispatch about a disturbance. Police said they found Jason Anthony Green, a resident of Mentor-on-the-Lake, with a knife and threatening to hurt a female resident with whom he had a romantic relationship.
Police said Green exited the front door holding the knife and approached the officers. He reportedly ignored multiple commands to drop it, and officers first used Tasers, but the devices were ineffective. Officers then fired their weapons, though it was not immediately clear whether both officers struck Green.
Green was taken by the fire department to University Hospitals Lake West Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Police rendered aid after the shooting, and the department offered condolences to his family, the report said.
BCI Will Lead The Investigation
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation was requested to conduct an independent investigation, while representatives of the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office and Lake County Coroner’s Office responded to the scene. The Ohio Attorney General’s Office says BCI teams are deployed after a formal request to provide independent investigations of officer-involved critical incidents.
That process does not itself determine whether the officers acted lawfully or whether charges will be filed. Investigators are expected to review the dispatch call, witness accounts, physical evidence, and the officers’ use of force before the case is presented to prosecutors.
What Remains Unclear
The initial account did not identify the officers involved or say whether body-camera footage would be released. It also did not provide additional details about the domestic dispute or explain whether anyone besides Green was injured.
The Ohio BCI investigation is ongoing, and additional information will likely emerge through police statements, investigative records and the Lake County prosecutor’s review.
