Officer who shot Warren man is ID'd

WARREN — The city police officer who fired the shots that hit Randall Bryant, 45, of Harrison Street Northeast Wednesday night is Patrolman Adam Huffman.

A review of the 911 recordings from the 11:32 p.m. incident indicates Huffman fired two to three times at Bryant as Bryant emerged from the home at 1104 Harrison with a shotgun.

An officer at the scene told a Warren police dispatcher later that Huffman fired at Bryant after Bryant “raised the shotgun” while coming through the door and that Bryant was hit one to two times in the arm, though the officer said he was basing his estimate of Bryant’s injuries on what Bryant’s injuries looked like to him.

Huffman indicated he had ordered Bryant twice to drop the weapon before he fired, Warren Police Chief Eric Merkel said Thursday during a press conference.

Merkel said Thursday morning Bryant was in critical condition at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital and had undergone surgery. An attempt to update Bryant’s condition this morning was unsuccessful.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is handling the investigation into the shooting, and Merkel said he didn’t know how many times Bryant was hit by the officer’s gunfire or whether Bryant had fired his weapon.

Huffman was alone at the Harrison address, waiting for backup when the incident occurred. He was called there because police were advised that Bryant was holding his girlfriend at gunpoint at the residence after the woman’s mother had called 911 earlier to report that Bryant had assaulted the woman, 41.

Huffman began his career with the Warren Police Department Nov. 21, 2012, after serving three years as a corrections officer with the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office.