INVESTIGATION CONTINUES IN POLICE SHOOTING

LIMA -- Less than a day after the fatal shooting of a 26-year-old
mother by a Lima Police Department SWAT team officer during a drug
raid, Chief Greg Garlock said they knew they were entering a
"high-risk" situation with a good chance there would be children inside.

Toys on the front porch of 218 E. Third St. were the tip-off children
may be inside. Police officers also knew the man they were after,
Anthony Terry, 31, had been in prison and had numerous run-ins with
police officers including a time in which he tried to use a weapon on
an officer.

Still, they decided to go forward with the nighttime raid just after 8
p.m. Friday.

The result was deadly.

A SWAT team officer shot and killed Tarika Wilson. Her 1-year-old son,
Sincere Wilson, also was shot. He was at Nationwide Children's
Hospital in Columbus in stable condition Saturday evening. His aunt,
Tania Wilson, said he was shot in the shoulder and hand and that the
bullet blew off a finger. He had surgery Saturday, she said.

Five other children were inside the home with two adults, Garlock
said.

The raid was the result of a "long-term investigation" by the
department's PACE unit into the sale of illegal drugs out of the home.
Terry was the subject of the raid. Police arrested him and charged him
with suspicion of possession of crack cocaine following the raid.

He was in the Allen County jail Saturday with a bond hearing scheduled
for Monday.

Wilson's body was taken to the Lucas County Coroner's Office in Toledo
for an autopsy, Allen County Coroner Gary Beasley said.

A somber Garlock stood before the media Saturday answering questions
about the deadly incident. He had little to say about what happened
inside.

"This is not what any of us wanted to happen," he said.

His department late Friday asked the Ohio Bureau of Criminal
Identification and Investigation to handle the investigation to be
fair to the community and his officers. The agency is under the Ohio
Attorney General's Office.

Before the raid, Garlock said officers collected information and tried
to anticipate anything they may encounter inside.

"Because of the fact there were toys on the outside of the residence
they were concerned about the fact there could be children inside and
they were taking every precaution when they made entry," he said.

The chief said any drug raid has the potential for danger, which is
why SWAT officers are highly trained.

"I think it's important for the public to know the Lima Police
Department has literally been involved in thousands, not just
hundreds, thousands of raids over the years," he said.

Garlock was asked if he stood by the decision for SWAT officers to go
into the residence and referred to the independent investigation by
BCII. He once again said police knew it was a high-risk drug raid with
the potential for children inside.

"The decision made tried to take all precautions into account and I
would have to say obviously our track record has been very consistent
in terms of safety," he said.

The last fatal shooting by a Lima police officer was by a member of
the SWAT team inside the Lima Rescue Home in downtown Lima on Aug. 23,
2000. Michael Hildebrandt was killed by a SWAT officer after he
reportedly was armed with a knife during a six-hour standoff. The
officer involved in that shooting remains on the SWAT team but Garlock
didn't know if he was in the raid Friday.

Former SWAT commander Richard Shade, now a major with the department,
said it's not unusual for children to be inside homes police raid.

Garlock was not sure how many SWAT officers were involved in the raid
Friday. The SWAT team has 14 officers. At least one distraction
grenade was set off outside the home before the raid, which is a
common tactic that gives officers the element of surprise in hopes of
quickly taking the situation under control, he said.

"Because of the possibility that we had children in there they were
not lobbed inside the residence," he said.

The entire situation will be closely examined by the department to
determine what may have been done wrong in a standard debriefing,
Garlock said. Such debriefings provide a learning experience for the
team, he said.

Although the SWAT officer has been placed on leave, the SWAT team will
not suspend any drug raids and the PACE team will not suspend any
investigation, Garlock said.

Garlock was not sure how many shots were fired. He said that will be
part of the investigation. The chief also refused to release the name
of the officer who fired the fatal shot and injured the child.

The chief also declined to comment on whether anyone inside the home
had a weapon or threatened an officer.

Two dogs, which Garlock said were pit bulls, were shot inside the
home. One was killed and the other was injured, he said.

Garlock also discussed the tense situation that followed the shooting
outside the home that included members of the community yelling
profanities at police. An estimated 100 people gathered around in the
cold waiting to hear news, including Wilson's mother and other family
members.

Garlock apologized for the delay and accepted blame saying his
officers legally needed a second search warrant to re-enter the home
after the SWAT team left. That took a couple of hours to get, which
included approval by a judge, he said.

He also said police consulted with two prosecutors about that
decision.

Another issue that delayed police from notifying Wilson's family was
making sure they had the correct identity of Wilson.

"We finally were able to do that through pictures," he
said.

Garlock pulled the family aside nearly four hours after the shooting
to deliver the bad news. The mother fell to the ground. The family
left a short time later. The crowd still was upset learning of a death
but seemed to calm after police finally spoke to family.

Garlock said there were no plans to increase patrols in the
neighborhood Saturday or in the near future.

Officers will remain at the house to protect the crime scene in case
BCII officers need to enter for their investigation, Garlock said.

Lima 6th Ward Councilman Derry Glenn owns the house but did not live
there. It was a rental home he had, he said.

Glenn called for an independent investigation following the
incident.

"This doesn't look good. It stinks to high heaven," he
said.

Glenn vowed to seek outside help.

"I want to make sure the folks know this is going to be investigated
thoroughly and we're going to check it out to make sure everything is
going to get uncovered. I guarantee you that," he said.

Lt. Jim Baker briefly spoke during the news conference about the
incident with Terry and an officer that took place in the mid-1990s.

"Mr. Terry had a weapon and there was a fight over that weapon and he
tried to use that on Sgt. [Ron] Connor," Baker said.

Baker also said Wilson had spent time in prison on a drug conviction.
That conviction was out of Putnam County, according to court records.

Lima Mayor David Berger offered condolences to the Wilson family and
apologize for the delay in notifying them of Wilson's death.

"I want to express a personal heartfelt remorse for this horrible
situation," Berger said.

The Rev. Lamont Monford also attended the news conference and said
it's important for an independent investigation to be conducted to
avoid the appearance of impropriety.

"People are suspicious when these kinds of things happen. The bottom
line is let the truth come out whatever the truth is," he said.