'These people have guns.' 911 call details Cuyahoga Falls neighbor dispute, fatal shooting
The victim of a fatal shooting over the weekend had been involved in a property dispute with neighbors and brandished a firearm before he was shot, police said Monday.
Audio of the dispute and shooting was captured on a 911 call made to police.
Richard Luft, Jr., a 62-year-old man from Cuyahoga Falls, was identified as the shooting victim who died in his backyard Saturday afternoon, according to the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office.
Capt. Chris Norfolk with the Cuyahoga Falls Police Department said no arrests have been made as of early Monday afternoon.
"This incident started as a neighbor dispute over the property line," police said in release later. "Luft Jr. brandished a firearm at several known persons. The known persons reported that they feared for their safety, unholstered their guns, and shot Luft Jr."
The shooting occurred on the 2000 block of Germaine Street, a residential street east of state Route 8 that runs from East Portage Trail south toward Tallmadge Road. Police said they received a 911 call around 4 p.m. and found Luft in his backyard with multiple gunshot wounds.
911 call captures shooting
The sound of multiple gunshots can be heard in a 911 recording provided Monday by police following a Beacon Journal public records request.
In it, a man can be heard saying, "Get out of my property," before talking to the dispatcher.
"I need a cop. These people have guns. They're in my property," the man said.
The dispatcher asks the man for his address, and the man can be heard saying, "You better step back."
Then the sound of a single gunshot can be heard, followed almost immediately by nearly 20 rapid-fire shots.
A man can then be heard calling out, seemingly in pain and the recording ended.
Police did not say if Luft Jr. was the caller.
A second caller, who requested an ambulance, told the dispatcher that the neighbor fired a shotgun at him and his family.
"Our neighbor shot a **** shotgun at us," the caller said multiple times.
Police provided emergency medical treatment, but Luft Jr. died at the scene. All parties involved are known, police said in a statement released Saturday evening.
"All parties involved have been identified and there is no ongoing public safety concern," the press release said. "The Cuyahoga Falls Police detective bureau and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation are on scene investigating the incident."
No information was provided Sunday or Monday on the number of times the man was shot as an autopsy was still being performed, said Gary Guenther, chief investigator at the medical examiner's office.
Fatal shooting: Police investigate shooting death of Cuyahoga Falls man on Germaine Street
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 911 call reveals neighbor dispute in fatal Cuyahoga Falls shooting
