Details on Dempsey shooting expected today

WARREN — The public should learn today whether police were justified in killing Cody Dempsey, 25, by shooting him eight times along state Route 11 Sept. 26.

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins has announced a press conference at 1:30 p.m. related to the case.

Dempsey died of six gunshots to the chest during a confrontation with police from several agencies at the end of a pursuit south along Route 11.

The confrontation began when a Trumbull County sheriff’s deputy discovered Dempsey driving a Cadillac stolen from a Kinsman scrap yard earlier Saturday.

He and two other deputies chased Dempsey south on Route 11 at speeds of up to 75 mph, which is 5 miles per hour over the posted limit, said Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere.

Dempsey did not exhibit any extreme behavior when one of three officers pulled up alongside of him on the highway, Altiere said.

Troopers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol and officers from Weathersfield Township placed stop sticks in the roadway near the Tibbetts-Wick interchange to deflate the tires on the Cadillac.

Dempsey was not compliant and was killed shortly thereafter, police said. Police have said Dempsey, of state Route 88 in Kinsman, brandished a semi-automatic handgun before he was shot, but they have not said if Dempsey pointed it at officers or fired it.

The Highway Patrol handled the investigation into the shooting. No sheriff’s deputies fired their weapons, Altiere said.

One trooper and more than one Weathersfield Township police officer were placed on paid administrative leave while the investigation was being completed. It’s unknown whether any of those officers have returned to work.

Dempsey had had a few brushes with the law as a young adult, including alcohol- and drug-related arrests that resulted in short a few stays at the Trumbull County jail.

He worked for a Cortland auto body shop while attending Trumbull Career and Technical Center and for several years afterward. He also later worked at a Youngstown factory.

Police have dash-cam video from Dempsey’s death, but Watkins advised the Highway Patrol not to release it during the investigation.

“We just want to know all of the events and how they took place so we can move on with our grieving process because we lost someone that we loved very much,” Stephanie Perez, Dempsey’s sister told WFMJ-TV 21, the Vindicator’s broadcast partner.

“And we have images going through our minds of what happened, but no answers of how it happened and all we want is the truth.”