Staff photo / R. Michael Semple State Route 46 between East Market and High streets was closed for much of the afternoon Friday after a police-involved shooting occurred there. Details of the shooting have not yet been released and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is handling the case. The man who was shot by officers was taken to the hospital but his condition is unknown.

HOWLAND — The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating an officer-involved shooting Friday morning in the township.

The incident, which occurred in front of the former Wahaka Taco restaurant and across from the township fire and police stations on Niles Cortland Road NE, left a man wounded and a portion of the road closed between East Market and High Street for several hours. The road reopened late Friday afternoon.

Officials confirmed that a Howland officer was involved in the incident.

Earlier, Township Administrator James Pantalone, speaking on behalf of Howland police Chief Nick Roberts, confirmed the shooting happened Friday morning and added, “It’s still an active scene, and the roadway will be shut off for quite some time.

“The fire department did transport one male to the hospital with a gunshot wound. We don’t know the details on his status at this time,” Pantalone said. “The officers are all OK.”

He said he doesn’t expect additional information to come out for a while, as BCI was called out to investigate.

“It was an officer-involved shooting, so they’re going through their modalities at this point in time,” Pantalone said. “If there’s anything (Roberts) wants to push out, it’ll either be him or I. I’ve been just trying to take the pressure off of him, because he’s got about a thousand things going on.”

A Friday afternoon news release from the department confirmed no officers were injured and BCI’s continued involvement at the scene, adding that BCI is conducting an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

“The Howland Township Police Department will conduct an internal administrative review, including a review of department use-of-force protocols,” the release states.

PREVIOUS SHOOTING

This isn’t the only time in recent years the township has seen an officer-related shooting.

In February 2017, Roberts and Assistant Chief Jeffrey Urso fatally shot murder suspect Richard Latimer in the parking lot of Giant Eagle on East Market Street, which is just down the street from where Friday’s shooting occurred.

Latimer, 34, was killed by multiple gunshots following the killing of Van Blevins, 44, at his home in Weathersfield earlier that evening. Police were searching for Latimer after his wife, Candace Latimer, called 911 and said she saw him shoot Blevins.

Howland officers went to the parking lot to look for Latimer after being told by Weathersfield police that he was heading there.

At the time of the 2017 incident, Monroe said it was not unusual for ranking officers to respond to such incidents and he added that the department’s detectives are part of the Trumbull County Homicide Squad and were responding to the Weathersfield killing at the time of the call.

Monroe said at the time the location of the confrontation — a parking lot where the grocery store and other businesses in the plaza still were open — necessitated the actions taken by Roberts and Urso.

In August of 2017, Tina Davis, 34, pleaded not guilty in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to felony charges of tampering with evidence and obstructing official business on which she was secretly indicted by a grand jury. Davis was arrested in connection to the shooting because she was accused of helping Latimer after he shot Blevins.

Roberts and Urso were cleared of any wrongdoing in the shooting.