newsnet5.com has obtained the personnel file for Shaker Heights police officer Kevin Ishler, who police say shot a suspect during an attempted burglary.
The incident happened Nov. 8, 2015 inside a garage at a home on Ludlow Road.
Police body camera footage shows Ishler shot the suspect, identified as 51-year-old Jimmie Jones of Cleveland, three times.
Shaker Heights police and the city's prosecutor, Randolph Keller, said Jones had a screwdriver as a weapon. They will not say whether he also had a gun.
The incident is still under investigation. Ishler is on paid administrative leave. Jones has not been charged with a crime.
“He [Ishler] is a training officer, and he’s been a very good employee,” said Commander John Cole of the Shaker Heights Police Department.
That statement is backed up by Ishler's personnel file, which includes performance reviews, emails and notes from citizens he has helped. It shows that he is a top-performing officer with no use of force complaints made against him. Ishler has been on the force for the past nine years.
Shaker Heights police explained that the lack of a gun on the suspect's part can still make use of force justified in their department.
"Our response to threat policy allows police officers to use force based on protecting themselves or protecting another person or to affect an arrest," said Sgt. Troy Allison. "The threat can be anything from verbal to bodily harm to deadly force.”
Jones has since been discharged from the hospital. He has a lengthy criminal history that includes multiple convictions of receiving stolen property.
The prosecutor could not give a timeframe as to when his investigation of the case would be complete.
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