YOUNGSTOWN — The spokesman for the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation said the Struthers police officers involved in the April 1 shooting death of James J. Sheets, 35, of Youngstown are “uncharged suspects in a criminal investigation,” and their names are “not released to the public.”

Spokesman Steve Irwin stated in an email Monday that the public record statutes related to confidential law enforcement investigatory records do not allow the names to be released to the public.

BCI is in charge of the investigation into the shooting. The Struthers and Youngstown police departments asked BCI to handle the matter. Youngstown assisted with the chase of the suspect but were not involved in the shooting.

Irwin cited a statute saying a confidential law enforcement investigatory record “means any record that pertain to a law enforcement matter of a criminal, quasi-criminal, civil, or administrative nature, but only to the extent that the release of the records would create a high probability of disclosure of” “the identity of a suspect who has not been charged with the offense to which the record pertains.”

Irwin added that BCI’s investigation remains ongoing” and that when it is complete, it will be referred to the county prosecutor’s office.

Struthers police Chief Tim Roddy released some details last week, but at the end of his news release, he stated, “All inquiries for information regarding this incident will be answered by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.”

Apparently, two Struthers officers were involved in the shooting death of Sheets at 5:14 p.m. at the end of a chase that began about a block away from the Struthers police station where an officer reported that Sheets “struck” the officer “in the drive-

thru” of Wildcat Drive-Thru, 84 State St., in Sheets’ gold Chevrolet Malibu.

Sheets fled along State Street and entered Interstate 680 into Youngstown and exited at Salt Springs Road on Youngstown’s West Side. At Salt Springs Road and Steel Street, one or more Struthers officers confronted Sheets, whom Struthers police said pulled out a gun, and one or more Struthers officers fired on Sheets, killing him.

“Officers deployed Tasers in an effort to obtain compliance from the suspect. The suspect produced a firearm and was subsequently subdued by the involved officers,” Chief Tim Roddy stated last week in a news release.

At 6:52 p.m., Struthers Detective Dan Mamula reported he escorted the officer who began the chase to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, and a second officer also was going to be taken to the hospital. Mamula reported he had finished at the hospital and returned to Steel Street at 7:26 p.m., according to a call log the police department released last week.

Per policy, the officer or officers involved in the shooting were going to be placed on paid leave, Roddy said just after the shooting.

Court records show that Sheets has had two felony convictions involving theft and vandalism, and a number of misdemeanor convictions in area courts over the last 15 years. He also had unresolved charges of fleeing and eluding, driving under suspension, disregarding safety and possession of drug paraphernalia related to a May 1, 2020, incident in Campbell.