UPDATE 4:30 p.m.
Newark Police Department Chief Barry Connell has released more details including the names of the officers involved in Thursday morning's shooting.
The two that were involved are Officer John Bell and Sergeant John Brnjic.
Bell was the officer that found Pierson walking down the street with a gun in his hand. Brnjic arrived as back up after a call by Bell.
“He took deliberate steps to provoke a response from us,” he said. “The investigation is going to ferret out the details of that but at this point we don't want to speculate on what his thoughts were."
Another sergeant was in the same cruiser as Brnjic but did not fire his weapon.
Both Bell and Brnjic are on administrative leave.
Chief Connell also said Pierson specifically altered the gun to give the appearance of a real fire arm but gave no detail as to what was done.
UPDATE 11:57 a.m.
Licking County Prosecutor Kenneth Oswalt said the gun that was carried by Pierson was a BB pistol/handgun but had the appearance of a real gun. He said the gun did not have an orange cap or tip to suggest otherwise.
Oswalt said this fact could certainly affect any charges but it is too early to tell at this point.
ORIGINAL
Police in Newark were investigating an officer-involved shooting near the police department.
Officers said it happened Thursday around midnight in the area of East Market and Third Streets, just two blocks from the police station.
Police say they saw a man, identified as 26-year-old Dustin Pierson, walking down the street with a gun in one hand and a beer in the other.
The officer turned his cruiser around and followed the suspect as he called for backup.
Officers say they ordered Pierson to drop his weapon repeatedly, but he became combative with the officers and raised his hand with the gun. That’s when officers opened fire.
A medical helicopter flew Pierson to OSU Wexner Medical Center.
His condition is not known, but officer say they expect him to recover.
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