North Toledo man shot, killed after he reportedly pointed shotgun at 2 officers

Officers happened upon domestic dispute on Page Street

Toledo Deputy Police Chief Don Kenney talks during a news conference at the Safety Building about the shooting of Thomas Bean by Toledo police officers today. Captain Brad Weis is at back left.

The Blade/Dave Zapotosky
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Toledo Deputy Police Chief Don Kenney talks during a news conference at the Safety Building about the shooting of Thomas Bean by Toledo police officers today. Captain Brad Weis is at back left.

A North Toledo man was shot and killed early today after he reportedly pointed a shotgun at two officers.

Thomas Bean, 43, of 1029 Page St., was shot multiple times just before 1 a.m. by Officer Tom Reinhart.

Officer Reinhart and Officer Jason Picking, both assigned to the gang unit, were on patrol in the 1000 block of Page when they saw Bean standing over a woman, pointing a 12-gauge shotgun at her face, police said.

The woman, Valerie Williams, 27, was lying on the ground in front of Bean's home.

Officers got out of the car and told Bean several times to drop the gun, police said. Bean, instead, pointed the gun at the officers.

Officer Reinhart fired seven times; Officer Picking did not fire his weapon.

Bean.

Bean ran back inside the Page Street home; he was found dead inside a living room.

Police said Bean's shotgun was not loaded, but several live rounds were found in the kitchen.

Police said there might have been a party at Bean's residence Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

Deputy Chief Don Kenney said Ms. Williams and Bean were acquainted with one another. Ms. Williams reportedly told investigators that the officers "saved her life," and that her last thought was that she would never see her children again.

It was not clear what Bean and Ms. Williams were fighting about.

Both officers were in uniform -- one in an all-black gang unit outfit and the other in a standard police uniform, a light-blue shirt and dark-colored pants.

The officers were hired by the Toledo Police Department on Oct. 3, 2011, and were both employed by other police departments before joining the TPD. Officer Reinhart was an officer in Oak Harbor, Ohio and Officer Picking was an officer in Washington Township.

Neither officer was injured, but, per departmental policy, will have at least three days off. Chief Kenney said the department will do a full investigation.

Several witnesses, including Ms. Williams, have reportedly provided police an account that matched officer statements, police said.

"It all happened really fast for the officers," said the sergeant. The sergeant added the officers were not dispatched to a call there, but happened upon the dispute.

At least one round from an officer's gun struck the man's shotgun, he said.

The last time Toledo police shot and killed a suspect was in September, also in North Toledo.

Killed then was Darrell Parnell, 19, of Toledo. He was shot once in the chest by Officer Benjamin Cousino after the suspect tried several times to take the officer's gun. The suspect had taken the officer's baton and used it to hit the officer on the head several times, police have said.

The shooting was ruled justifiable.