Death by Cop 2021-2025
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Fredrick A. Thomas
Age : 41
Gender : Male
Race : Black
Date : 09/05/2021
Location : 8908 Fox Glove Way
City : Miamisburg
County : Montgomery
State : Ohio
Agency : Miami Township Police Department
Officer(s) :Scott Miller; William “Drew” Olinger; Austin Snowden
Cause of Death : Gunshot
Event : Killed by police during domestic violence response
OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :
On 09/05/2021, 41-year-old Frederick A. Thomas was shot and killed by Miami Township Police Department Detective Scott Miller and Officers William “Drew” Olinger and Austin Snowden after police responded to a domestic disturbance at Thomas's home in the 8900 block of Fox Glove Way.
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Police had already responded to Thomas's home earlier that evening for another domestic dispute. Police Chief Charlie Stiegelmeyer described the earlier encounter as much calmer. Officers took Thomas to a relative's home, but the relative subsequently brought him back to his residence.
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Regional Dispatch records show another domestic-violence call began at approximately 8:26 p.m. A woman could be heard yelling for someone to get off her and her baby and saying she was fighting with her husband before the call disconnected. Miami Township police reported being dispatched at approximately 9:08 p.m. At 9:13 p.m., another caller reported hearing two or three gunshots in the area.
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According to police, Miller, Olinger and Snowden arrived and heard Thomas in the garage making threats about having a shootout. Police said they were concerned about a woman and child believed to be inside the residence and went to the front door.
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Police alleged that Thomas opened the front door, threatened to shoot the officers and fired at them. Miller, Olinger and Snowden all fired their weapons at Thomas. Thomas went back inside and closed the door, and the officers retreated to cover.
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Dispatch records show shots were reported at approximately 9:20 p.m. and police requested the Montgomery County Regional SWAT Team about a minute later. Police deployed stop sticks behind a vehicle at the residence. Dispatch records also referenced use of a drone and tear gas during the barricade.
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SWAT negotiators attempted more than a dozen times to contact Thomas by telephone and text message without receiving a response. Police did not initially know that Thomas had been wounded during the exchange of gunfire.
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At approximately 1:24 a.m. on 09/06/2021, SWAT entered the residence and found Thomas unresponsive in a hallway near the front door. Police attempted medical aid, but he was pronounced dead at the residence.
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Investigators recovered two handguns inside the residence. Police said one was found near Thomas and had been fired three times. Police said Thomas's fatal wound was sustained during the exchange of gunfire with Miller, Olinger and Snowden and was not self-inflicted.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Detective Scott Miller was one of the three officers who shot Thomas. Miller had previously been the subject of a Miami Township Police Department internal investigation in 2018. An Ohio appellate-court decision concerning fellow officer Douglas Hesler states that Miller and Hesler were summoned by Capt. John Magill on March 8, 2018 and informed that they were subjects of an internal investigation. The court record establishes that Hesler received a five-day suspension arising from that investigation, but does not establish a comparable disciplinary finding against Miller, so no discipline should be attributed to Miller from that proceeding.
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Miller was promoted from detective to sergeant in August 2022 and remained with Miami Township Police Department after the Thomas shooting. The department subsequently listed him as a patrol supervisor.
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Austin Snowden was one of the three officers who shot Thomas. Miami Township subsequently awarded Snowden its Medal of Valor for the September 2021 shooting. Snowden left Miami Township and joined the Lebanon Police Department in February 2022.
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On 07/12/2022, while working for Lebanon police, Snowden responded as mutual aid to another police shooting in Clearcreek Township after Officer Eric Ney was shot in the head. Ohio BCI later interviewed Snowden as a responding witness in that investigation; Snowden was not the officer who fired the fatal shots in that case.
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Miami Township Police Department has a significant documented civil-rights history unrelated to the Thomas shooting. Former Miami Township Detective Matthew Scott Moore was found civilly liable for constitutional violations that contributed to the wrongful conviction of Roger Dean Gillispie, who spent more than 20 years imprisoned for sexual assaults he did not commit.
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Gillispie's case involved suppressed exculpatory evidence and improper eyewitness-identification procedures. After his release and exoneration, a federal jury in 2022 awarded him $45 million in damages against Moore. A federal court subsequently ruled that Miami Township was responsible for indemnifying Moore for the judgment.
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In May 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the judgment and Miami Township's obligation to indemnify Moore. The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently declined the township's request to review the case, leaving the $45 million judgment in place.
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The department also had a documented internal disciplinary controversy involving Detective Douglas Hesler. Miami Township fired Hesler in 2019 following internal disciplinary proceedings. The department alleged policy violations and racially insensitive comments toward a female officer. An arbitrator overturned the termination and ordered Hesler reinstated; Miami Township unsuccessfully challenged that decision in court. The Ohio Second District Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling in 2021, and Hesler was reinstated with back pay.
SOURCE LINKS :
https://www.wdtn.com/news/local-news/shots-fired-in-miamisburg-swat-is-on-scene/
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/crt-app-ohi-sec-dis-mon-cou/2133090.html
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca6/23-3999/23-3999-2025-05-02.html
