CONNEAUT, Ohio — One person is dead following a shooting with Ashtabula County Sheriff's Office deputies and a Conneaut Police officer on Thursday.
According to the sheriff's office, Special Response Team members went to execute felony warrants for a person in the 600 block of Orange Street. When officers arrived, they were met with family members of the person, and learned that they were in the basement of the home with someone else.
"After safely extracting the second person the individual became non-compliant. During the extraction, perceiving an immediate threat, Sheriff's Deputies and a Conneaut Police Department Officer fired at the individual, resulting in a fatality," the sheriff's office said in a news release posted on Facebook.
Family and friends identified the man killed as 34-year-old Brandon Butts.
"He'd fix my golf cart, he fixed everything," Family friend Darlene Goodiel said. "He was very good mechanically and I was never afraid of him because he wasn't that kind of person."
Ohio BCI was called to the scene to investigate the shooting.
"No I don't think Brandon was an imminent threat," family friend Debbie Carlson said. "I really don't. Was he scared and was he not wanting to go? Sure, but I think they could have gone about it differently."
BCI records shown to News 5 reveal investigators collected more than 40 shell casings from the home following the shooting.
Court paperwork shows the case originated with four misdemeanors last December, including failure to comply.
News 5 spoke with several of Butts' family members, who repeatedly asked questions such as "Why was that level of force used?" and "Why did deputies fire so many shots?"
The family insists Butts did not have a gun that day.
The family did not speak on camera on the advice of their attorney, Jeremy Tor.
News 5 researched Butt's criminal history and did not find any violent criminal charges or gun-related charges. His family acknowledges he had past run-ins related to drugs.
"Most of the things Brandon did — Brandon did to himself and hurt himself," Carlson said. "He would never hurt a soul. I'm not going to say Brandon was perfect because none of us are but I'll tell you what — Brandon had a heart of gold."
Both the Conneaut Police Department and the Ashtabula County Sheriff's Office declined to speak on-camera with News 5 or address the family's concerns while BCI investigates.
A spokesperson with the Ashtabula County Sheriff's Office told News 5 there are no body-worn cameras from executing that warrant or the shooting that followed.
