COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Division of Police released body camera video showing the moments leading up to authorities shooting and killing a man who stabbed multiple officers during a SWAT standoff on the city's west side last week.
On Aug. 1, a man called 911 saying his stepson, later identified by police as 40-year-old Benjamin Wheeler, was threatening him.
Bodycam video shows officers arriving at a residence on Cherryberry Drive and talking with the stepfather and his wife around 4:39 p.m. A few minutes later, Wheeler comes out of the house saying, "Martial law has been declared." He said he was not armed.
Officers were speaking with Wheeler about why they were called. Wheeler says he and his stepfather got into an argument about whether the front door should be opened or closed.
As officers were trying to de-escalate the situation, Wheeler said "Martial law has been called. I am armed. I will defend myself." When the officer asks if Wheeler has a gun on him, Wheeler says, "I may have." The officer says “Just tell us so we can all be safe. I want to be safe. We’re here with your family. I got a family. We all want to be safe.”
Wheeler went back inside the house and refused to come out.
According to a preliminary report, officers discovered Wheeler had a nonviolent felony warrant.
Officers called for additional cruisers and continued to speak with Wheeler through a loud-speaker to no avail.
Police say SWAT units arrived at 6 p.m. About an hour and a half later, officers can be seen on bodycam footage approaching the opened front door. An officer can be heard on bodycam saying, "He's got a gun." The officer wearing the bodycam suddenly jumps back and blood could be seen on his arm. Records say the officer was stabbed.
Around 9:21 p.m., bodycam video shows SWAT officers approach the front door again.
The video shows officers moving through what appears to be the living room of the house. There is a barricade between the living room and the kitchen.
About a minute into the bodycam video, Wheeler is seen holding a knife in the kitchen as officers approach. Tasers were deployed and shots were fired seconds later. An officer can later be heard saying he was stabbed in the leg.
As officers searched the kitchen, a shotgun can be seen on the ground.
Police say Wheeler was pronounced dead at 9:45 p.m.
Police say three officers in total suffered injuries from an "edged weapon." None of the injuries were life-threatening.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating the incident.