Dayton cop suspected in wife's shooting

The Dayton Daily News is reporting Dayton police officer Michael Blake is a suspect in the shooting death of his wife Niema at the couple's home, following a domestic dispute on Saturday.

DPD Maj. Michael Brown said the handgun used in the shooting was retrieved at the scene. He said he did not know if it was a police-issued weapon. Brown also told the paper the shooting took place on the first floor of the couple's two-story, red brick and vinyl-sided home in the University Row neighborhood, and that first emergency responders said that only Blake and his wife were home at the time.

Brown commented to the newspaper of the department's handling of the shooting, "Obviously, it's tough for us to handle."

Indeed.

According to the DDN in a Monday update, questions are now being raised over why Blake has still not been arrested.

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According to the story, Dayton Police Director Julian K. Davis on Monday asked the community not to draw conclusions because Officer Michael Blake was not booked immediately into jail after the shooting.

He told the DDN that in domestic disputes in which two people argue and one dies, the other is "usually arrested".

That didn't happen in Blake's case. Blake, 40, remains on paid administrative leave. His police weapons have been confiscated, but Davis refused to say if a service weapon was used in the shooting.

"[It's] an internal process that I will have to work out with homicide investigators," Davis told the DDN. "There were only two people there, and the wife is dead."

Dayton police Lt. John Huber told reporters that in domestic violence cases, investigators must determine who was the primary aggressor.

"Let's allow the criminal justice system to work through the conclusion of this investigation," Davis is quoted as saying. "In a nutshell, police officers come from the general public. We come with our prejudices, and our biases ... our mean streaks."

Thank you, Major Davis. That is the point we were going to make when we first read of this shooting on Saturday. Not all cops deserve to be branded by the actions of one who goes bad.

We hope you'll keep that in mind if ever a CHL-holder appears to have committed a crime with their firearm.