'He broke my door open.' 911 call reveals tense moments before Akron police shot man with knife

Trapped in her bedroom with her boyfriend and their dog, a woman calmly tells a 911 dispatcher just before 4 a.m. Thursday that her estranged husband is trying to kick down the door.

After seven previous incidents, a restraining order had been filed against him the day before in court, she says. Less than five minutes into the call, the woman and her boyfriend see police cars outside.

As police assess the situation, determining the location of everyone in the house and contemplating the use of a police dog to subdue the husband, the wife screams.

"He broke my door open," she yells in a recording released by police.

Police decide against sending in a dog and enter the home knowing that the man is possibly armed with a baseball bat and knife. Upstairs, according to officers there, the man is in the bedroom holding a knife to his wife's throat.

A stun gun fired by one officer doesn't loosen his grip on the knife, so a second officer shoots.

James W. Gross, 58, was pronounced dead on the scene and later identified by the Summit County Medical Examiner. An autopsy found he died from gunshot wounds to the head and and neck.

The woman was reportedly uninjured, according to police.

The officer-involved shooting occurred on the second floor of a rental home in the 2400 block of 26th Street Southwest in Akron's Kenmore neighborhood.

Call logs show officers have responded to the location a dozen times in the past two years for domestic violence and fights. Before her door was kicked open, the woman told the 911 dispatcher this was at least the seventh incident involving her husband.

Akron police Capt. Dave Laughlin, who gathered information from responding officers, said the man entered the home's front door. After police arrived, the husband ran downstairs and reportedly barricaded the front door.

"He says you’re not coming up in here. You’ll have to kill him," the woman tells the 911 dispatcher after informing her husband that the police had arrived.

The woman and her boyfriend threw open their window to communicate their location in the house, as well as that of her disabled brother in another bedroom.

“He won’t let us out of the bedroom,” the boyfriend says to the police at one point.

Then, about six minutes after police arrived, the woman yells that her estranged husband has kicked in her bedroom door. In the next minute of chaos, the sound of a gunshot (or gunshots) is unclear over the barking dog and the yelling of the husband, wife and boyfriend.

A neighbor who has known James Gross and his wife since they moved into the apartment home two years ago said their relationship was troubled. He moved out this January. Though the neighbor said Gross seemed like "a nice guy," she said he had broken into the home, threatened his estranged wife and "even put her in the hospital once."

The neighbor, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, is convinced police did all they could to save lives.

“I honestly believe that he would have killed her," she said. "If he couldn’t have [his wife] back, he would have killed her. So, I know the officers did what they had to.”

Akron police chief, mayor issue statements

The two officers each have about seven years of experience in the department, according to a news release. They were immediately placed on paid administrative leave pending the results of an investigation, per department policy.

The investigation will be conducted by members of the APD Major Crimes Unit, assisted by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The case then will be turned over to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office for review before being submitted to a Summit County grand jury for evaluation, police said.

The Summit County Medical Examiner's Office will perform an autopsy.

The APD Office of Professional Standards and Accountability will do a separate internal investigation, with results submitted for review by the police chief and the Akron police auditor.

“This was a very unfortunate incident,” Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said in the release. “Members of the Akron Police Department value every human life and the loss of life in this incident is not the outcome we wanted. A complete and thorough investigation will take place and our findings will be shared with the public. I know that the citizens of Akron expect transparency and they will absolutely receive that in a timely manner.”

Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan also issued a statement.

"Regarding the officer involved shooting that occurred early this morning, we will be releasing the body worn camera footage to the public in a timely fashion," Horrigan said in the release. "Our residents expect and deserve the highest degree of transparency and accountability regarding any use of deadly force by an Akron police officer. Releasing this footage will allow the public to see for themselves what occurred, including the moments leading up to the event."

Law requires timely release of video when deadly force used

The shooting will be the first test of a new law Akron City Council passed unanimously in June that requires police videos in cases involving use of deadly force to be posted online within seven days for the public to view at akroncops.org.

Sponsored by Horrigan, council President Margo Sommerville and Vice President Jeff Fusco, the new law goes further than any in Ohio when it comes to the timely release of police videos.

Crafting of the new law began when the mayor-appointed Akron Charter Review Commission met in 2020. The panel recommended in July 2020 that the legislation be placed on the November ballot; 89% of Akron voters supported it.

Recent officer-involved shootings in Akron

This is the third officer-involved shooting in Akron to result in injuries since late 2019.

On Dec. 15, 2019, Mohammad Isaifan, 40, was shot and killed in a struggle with Akron police. Police said at the time that Isaifan was fleeing and had drawn a handgun before being shot by officers.

No body-camera footage was available because the officers were working a special-duty assignment at the time. A grand jury later cleared the officers.

Police received numerous calls at 8:30 a.m. that Sunday about a vehicle against the center median on Interstate 76 near East Market Street. Callers told officers a man wearing camouflage left the car, which police determined belonged to Isaifan.

Officers said they found a handgun, two handgun magazines and ammunition during a search of the car.

A short time later, officers said they found Isaifan walking near Brittain Road and Evans Avenue. He was wearing camouflage pants and a visible ammunition carrier.

On Jan. 7, 2020, a 20-year-old Akron man was shot by officers after police said he turned around and assumed a "shooter stance" during a foot chase. A grand jury declined to indict any of the officers involved. The man survived.

Beacon Journal reporter Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him @JimMackinnonABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/JimMackinnonABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Man killed by Akron officer identified as James W. Gross, 58