Incident: Tuesday, September 15, 2026, Johnson Avenue, Alliance, Ohio. Footage released by the Alliance Police Department: September 18, 2026.
A man-with-a-gun call came in from a car dealership on West State Street in the afternoon. Per the dealership owner, Joseph Derrico Jr. knew a female employee, came in, smashed a vehicle window, was walked out, then pointed a gun at the building and at her and left before police arrived. Alliance Police Department officers went looking for an armed man who had already pointed a gun at somebody that afternoon.
Officers found him in his vehicle on Johnson Avenue and ordered his hands on the car. He refused. Three officers were on him. One fired a Taser. It did not take. In the chief’s words, he reached around and came up with the gun. The other two officers fired. A gun was recovered with him. Derrico died at the scene despite resuscitation efforts. No officers or bystanders were hurt.
Free — the opening chapterUnits Are SurroundedFive shootings in five months between members of the Soboba Indian Reservation and law enforcement in the Hemet area of Riverside County. My story about being in the middle of it. The full book is coming.Read how it starts
He is dead, so there is no case against him. Nobody else was charged. The shooting has not been ruled on. Ohio BCI holds the investigation. A referral would go to the Stark County Prosecutor, who has published nothing.
This one gives a really clear view of something I see too often. I do not recommend being the first contact on the open door of a suspect who has already been brandishing a firearm on a domestic, with a Taser. I do not recommend your first man up leaving cover and walking up to that person with a Taser in his hand. You are going to a man-with-a-gun call on a man who has already pointed a gun at somebody today. You know what he has.
Three officers were there. The Taser officer was at the door, for whatever reason, and the Taser did not work. The chief says the man reached around and came up with a gun. The other two officers fired, and that is what saved this. One of them came out of his car, got behind the man, and pretty much saved his partner. The fact that the Taser officer was covered by two guns is the only reason this is a good outcome.
Then comes the part that drives me crazy. There has just been a shooting. The man they shot has a gun. And this officer is still standing there covering him with the Taser. Why do you still have your Taser out? Why would you not have your gun out? Taser time is over. He is the most exposed man on that scene, closer to the suspect than anybody holding a handgun, and he is holding the one tool that is not going to save him. They stand around like that for a while.
I am critical of cops because I want them to survive, and I want other people to learn from what they did. I am really happy all of these officers went home. But I highly recommend you never take on an armed suspect with a Taser. Not by yourself, not as the first man up, and not after the shooting has already happened. It worked out this time. That does not mean it could not have gone the other way.
Units Are Surrounded
The new book from Ray Dietrich. Five shootings in five months in Riverside County. The full book is coming - read how it starts, free.
