New dashcam video has been released from a St. Patrick’s Day police shootout in Solon that ended with a suspect dead.
The two police officers involved have been cleared of any wrongdoing during the traffic stop that took a deadly turn.
Police trainers use recent incidents and every scenario they can think of to prepare officers.
Solon police said Monday night that the training they have developed as recently as four years ago may have saved one officer’s life.
On the night of St. Patrick’s Day, Solon Police Officer Steven Davis pulled over Kevin Bailey for a traffic violation.
Officer Davis reported smelling marijuana in the car and called for backup. As both officers approached the car, Bailey rolls up his window and starts his car.
A short chase ended when Bailey blew out a dire. Davis’s cruiser blocked Bailey’s door, but then Bailey opens fire on police.
Davis, a member of the SWAT team, returned fire through the windshield, killing Bailey with shots to his head and shoulder.
It’s why police spend long hours training specifically for traffic stops, which are responsible for more than half of all on-duty officer deaths, according to one study.
Last March, James Gilkerson opened fire on Middlefield Police with an AK-47.
Officers returned fire, killing him.
Four years ago, the Solon Police Department began training for shooting at a suspect and through a windshield. Police use recent incidents and try to imagine every scenario to prepare for when the routine traffic stop becomes anything but.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Investigation revealed Bailey sent text messages to his mother hours before the shooting, distraught over a breakup with his girlfriend, and expected to die that day.
That report found no drugs in Bailey’s system.
