LORAIN, Ohio — The Lorain County Prosecutor's Office said three Lorain Police Officers were justified when they shot and killed a man on Oct. 7, 2022.
The report said the officers did not use excessive force when they shot 49-year-old Christopher Boggess.
“When he came out, the officers made contact with him and gave verbal commands. He refused, he kept walking toward the officers then he pulled a .40-caliber pistol out and pointed it at officers—that’s when they fired," said Lorain Police Chief Jim McCann.
What happened in seconds, the report said, started months ago.
Boggess was not happy with police. He believed they were taking too long to get reports he wanted.
It started on April 26, 2022. According to a report, he called police stating his apartment had been burglarized. The responding officer noted it appeared he had mental issues, the report said.
The report said that on May 4, 2022, an anonymous person called police asking for a welfare check after Boggess reportedly had been making suicidal and homicidal comments.
According to the report, around 10 days later Boggess called police again complaining someone had burglarized his apartment again, he threated to kill the person. He told police someone was photographing his computer keyboard and stealing his passwords, the report stated.
In July, Boggess, according to the report, called Vermillion police complaining Lorain Police were not taking him seriously. He threatened to take matters into his own hands and claimed he had armor piercing bullets.
Then the day before the shooting, Oct. 6, 2022, cameras captured Boggess entering the police department lobby asking for all reports of his former residence. He was told he needed to email the request, and video shows he can be heard swearing and threatening the police.
A report states that the next day as Lorain Police were getting arrest warrants, a caller reported a driver fired shots at him. Police determined it was Boggess. The man’s girlfriend followed Boggess to Evergreen Village Apartments where he lived before he was evicted, and police responded.
“He went back to confront the old manager who he thought still worked there,” said McCann.
But the complex changed owners and there was a new manager. She recorded the conversation the police gave to News 5.
In that recording he can be heard saying, “You better invest in some mops, let’s put it that way, because your (expletive) buildings will be turned into Swiss cheese. You can call the cops right, now I will blow their (expletive) away.”
He can be heard telling the woman his girlfriend cheated on him, his dad died and he has to live in his car because of a temporary restraining order from his Vermillion home.
According to the report, it was because of a domestic violence incident with his brother.
The woman escaped, and police body camera video captured the second he walks out and confronts police.
Police yell to get to the ground, he doesn’t, and instead he pulls out a gun from his coat and police shoot him.
“You can’t pull a gun on police, point it at them, and expect us to do nothing,” said McCann.
The Lorain County Sheriff’s Office investigated the shooting. They found a rifle and several explosive devices in his car, according to the report.
“These three officers—no doubt in my mind—saved countless lives that morning,” McCann said.
The report stated that when police informed the family of Christopher Boggess what happened, his brother said, “he was sorry that police officers had to do it.”
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