LEWISBURG OFFICER INVOLVED IN SHOOTING IDENTIFIED

Lewisburg police Sgt. Kent Moore, an 11-year veteran officer with extensive
weapons training, fatally shot Clayton Jacob Helriggle, 23, in a drug raid
at the man's Preble County farmhouse Sept. 27, according to Preble County
Sheriff's Office records.

Lewisburg police Chief John Wright has refused to identify the officer from
his department involved in the shooting at 1282 Ohio 503, south of West
Alexandria, but said that officer was placed on administrative leave
immediately.

Sheriff's office records list Moore as the only Lewisburg officer who is a
member of the Preble County Sheriff's Emergency Service Unit, a group of 15
officers from agencies throughout the county specially trained to handle
water rescue, drownings, hostage situations and high-risk operations, such
as serving search warrants.

Moore could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Preble County Sheriff Tom Hayes and Wright have said they will not comment
about the shooting until an investigation is completed.

But an initial incident report about Helriggle's death, written Wednesday
by Preble County sheriff's deputies, identifies Moore as the one who fired
a shotgun that killed Helriggle shortly before 7 p.m. Sept. 27.

According to state records, Moore was certified as a peace officer in 1983
after completing five months of training at the Butler Twp. Police Academy.
He was a part-time officer in Lewisburg from 1983 to 1991, before becoming
a full-time officer.

According to Bret Crow, a spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General's office,
Moore completed five courses from 1994 to 2001 in the use of semi-automatic
and assault weapons and shotguns. The Preble County Sheriff's Office lists
him as a firearms instructor for the emergency services unit.

Village of Lewisburg officials refused to release Moore's personnel file,
but the village police department roster notes that Moore also worked as a
Preble County sheriff's patrol officer from 1985 to 1991 and also for the
New Paris Police Department.

The Preble County sheriff's initial incident report also notes that a
sample of Moore's blood was taken at scene and that he turned his shotgun
over to other officers, which is required by sheriff's department policy
that governs investigations involving the use of deadly force. Moore and
officers from other police agencies are considered sheriff's deputies when
assigned to the emergency services unit.

Guns from two other law officers also were turned over to Montgomery County
sheriff's investigators because the officers discharged them inside
Helriggle's house at three mixed-breed dogs, according to the incident report.

Hayes turned the investigation over to Montgomery County sheriff's
detectives, who arrived at the farmhouse more than two hours after the
shooting, according to the Preble County report.

Montgomery County Sheriff Dave Vore has said the investigation could take
weeks.

Family and friends of Helriggle said this week that they dispute police
accounts, especially about how officers entered the farmhouse and what
Helriggle was carrying in his right hand as he descended the stairs and was
shot by Moore.

Officers said they knocked on the door and identified themselves as
sheriff's officers; Helriggle's roommates said they did not hear anything
until a flash-bang grenade was tossed inside and police broke through the
doors.

Helriggle was unarmed, according to his roommates, and carrying a blue
plastic cup of water. Law officers said he held a gun.

"One of these subjects was encountered in a stairway, and was found to be
in possession of a handgun," according to the Preble County report.

A handgun was recovered "in close proximity to the body," but no blue cup
was found near Helriggle's body, Preble County Sheriff Hayes said this week.

According to the Preble County report, a search warrant was obtained Sept.
27 from Eaton Municipal Judge Paul Henry as part of an investigation of
suspected drug trafficking. Hayes said the three-day investigation involved
marijuana.

Henry sealed that warrant Monday and it will be reopened when the case goes
before a grand jury, according to Preble County Prosecutor Rebecca Ferguson.

The 19-page Preble County report states that two teams of officers from the
emergency services unit entered the house on the east and west sides, where
Helriggle and four others lived. Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Caplinger and
Detective Clay VanWinkle, an emergency services unit team leader and
firearms instructor with the sheriff's office, shot at the dogs, grazing
one of them.

It isn't clear from the Preble County report when Helriggle was shot, but
his roommates said the episode was over and their friend was dead in minutes.

The Preble County report includes this timeline:

. 6:47 p.m., the units arrive at the farmhouse.

. 6:52 p.m., a CareFlight unit is requested from Miami Valley Hospital.

. 6:59 p.m., 12 minutes after the raid, Preble County Coroner John Vosler
is called.

. 7:02 p.m., CareFlight is canceled.

The Preble County report states that West Alexandria ambulance and fire
units were on alert as part of "preplanning" for the raid. Ken Pierce, a
sheriff's emergency services unit member and Lewisburg fire and rescue
paramedic, "was on scene and immediately began medical attention to
Helriggle after the shooting," according to the Preble County report.

Preble County Sheriff's Detective George Petitt, commander of the emergency
services unit and another firearms instructor, was ordered to "secure
weapons" from Moore, VanWinkle and Caplinger. The officers' guns were
secured in a patrol car by Deputy Michael Simpson, who is not in the
emergency services unit.

Also called to the scene were Ferguson and Hayes, who asked the Montgomery
County sheriff's investigators and evidence technicians to handle the scene
and interview Helriggle's roommates.

According to the Preble County report, Montgomery County coroner's
investigator Wade Lawson arrived at 8:30 p.m. and Montgomery County
sheriff's officers began arriving at 9:10 p.m.

A Preble County sheriff's captain photographed each officer at the scene
and Preble County deputies remained through the night.

Deputies from both counties executed the search warrant Sept. 28 and the
Preble County report notes that they confiscated a small amount of
marijuana, two containers of pills, several pipes, rolling papers and
plastic sandwich bags.

Weapons also were seized, including a 12-gauge shotgun, BB gun, ornamental
sword, knives, a hatchet and a grenade. Investigators also confiscated
wallets containing $469 and $288.56.

Helriggle's roommates were jailed the night of the shooting and released
about 1:30 a.m. No one has been charged.