The independent state investigation follows a shooting that police said occurred after a man pulled a gun during an attempted arrest.
HILLIARD, Ohio — The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is examining a Hilliard police shooting that left a man hospitalized Wednesday night, shifting the fact-finding process outside the local department after what the police chief described as the city’s first officer-involved shooting in at least five years.
The investigation centers on an encounter in the 4600 block of Lowell Lane. Hilliard Police Chief Michael Woods said officers went to an apartment complex to serve an arrest warrant tied to a public indecency incident reported at a grocery store on Sept. 11. Police said a struggle began as officers spoke with the man and that he pulled a gun from his pocket. One officer then fired and struck him, according to the department’s initial account.
The man was taken to a hospital and was reported in stable condition. No officers were injured. Authorities had not publicly identified the man or the officer who fired as of Thursday morning, and investigators had not released a more detailed timeline of the confrontation.
BCI’s Force Investigations Unit conducts independent criminal investigations of officer-involved critical incidents when requested by law enforcement agencies in Ohio. The attorney general’s office says the team operates separately from the requesting agency’s chain of command and focuses on developing a comprehensive record of what happened.
That distinction is significant because the state investigation is intended to establish facts rather than adopt the local department’s initial account as a final conclusion. In past officer-involved cases, BCI investigators have reviewed available video, processed physical evidence, examined communications and interviewed officers and civilian witnesses. Officials had not disclosed which of those steps had been completed in the Hilliard case.
The bureau also does not make its own determination about whether an officer’s use of force was legally justified. Ohio BCI describes itself as a fact-finding agency in these cases. Once an investigation is completed, its findings can be provided to the prosecutor with jurisdiction, who is responsible for legal decisions that may follow. No such decision has been announced in the Hilliard case, which remains in its early investigative stage.
BCI’s criminal inquiry is separate from any administrative review Hilliard may conduct concerning department policies or procedures. The state bureau says it does not decide questions involving internal discipline or an officer’s return to duty. Hilliard officials had not publicly announced the involved officer’s work status following the shooting.
Authorities also have not released additional details about the arrest warrant officers were attempting to serve. Woods linked it to a Sept. 11 public indecency incident at a grocery store, but officials had not publicly identified the store, described the alleged conduct in detail or announced whether other allegations were involved. The shooting investigation is therefore focused on what occurred during Wednesday night’s police encounter rather than establishing guilt on the underlying allegation.
Woods said Hilliard had gone at least five years without an officer-involved shooting before Wednesday’s incident. The city’s police department serves the Columbus suburb in Franklin County, while BCI operates under the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and provides outside investigative resources to agencies across the state.
The investigation remained active Thursday. The man’s identity, the officer’s identity and a fuller account of the evidence have not been released, and authorities have not provided a timetable for when BCI’s findings will be completed or forwarded for further review.
Author note: Last updated September 17, 2026.