One person is dead after a police pursuit that began in Norton ended in an officer-involved shooting in Akron on Friday morning, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. The shooting involved the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Norton Police Department, Steve Irwin, communications director for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, told the Beacon Journal, and no officers were injured.
The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed a fatality in the incident, the Beacon Journal reported. The person who died has not been publicly identified, and officials have not yet said who fired the shots or how many officers were involved in the shooting itself.
According to the Beacon Journal, the incident unfolded near West Crosier Street and Old Main Street in Akron, and the chase ended in the parking lot of the Downtown Laundromat at 1035 S. Main St. The original stop was for a traffic violation involving a red Volvo, according to scanner traffic reported by the Beacon Journal.
Akron police were notified of the incident at 9:46 a.m., Lt. Michael Murphy of the Akron Police Department told the Beacon Journal. Akron officers were not the agency involved in the shooting, based on the Attorney General’s account to the newspaper, but Akron police and State Highway Patrol officers on scene said traffic on Old Main Street and Main Street would be shut down for several hours while investigators worked.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation was responding to the scene, according to the Beacon Journal. BCI involvement is the standard practice in Ohio when a law enforcement officer shoots someone on duty: the bureau, which operates under the Attorney General, conducts an independent investigation of the shooting while the agencies involved cooperate, and the findings are typically turned over to the county prosecutor for review.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
Confirmed so far, from officials speaking to the Beacon Journal: a pursuit originated in Norton and ended in Akron; the Ohio State Highway Patrol and Norton police were the agencies involved in the shooting; one person died, as confirmed by the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office; and no officers were injured. Still unknown as of Friday midday: the identity of the person killed, which officer or officers fired, whether the person who died was armed, and the full route and duration of the pursuit. This article will be updated as officials release that information.
The shooting is the latest in a difficult stretch of police-shooting scrutiny in Akron. Earlier this week, NewsForce247 reported that an Akron man shot 15 times by an officer in November 2025 has sued the officer and the city in federal court, and Akron has paid roughly $10 million in recent fatal police shooting lawsuits, according to the Beacon Journal’s reporting on that case. Those cases involved Akron’s own police department; Friday’s shooting involved state troopers and Norton officers, and will be investigated under the same BCI process.
Friday’s events also raise the familiar questions that follow any fatal pursuit: how long the chase lasted, what speeds it reached, and at what point officers decided to continue or end it. None of those details had been released by midday Friday. Pursuit policies vary by agency in Ohio, and BCI investigators typically review whether the chase and the shooting followed the policies of the departments involved as part of their case file for the prosecutor.
For drivers in south Akron, the immediate impact is the closure. Main Street and Old Main Street near Crosier Street were expected to remain shut down for several hours on Friday, according to officers on scene speaking to the Beacon Journal, and motorists were being turned away from the area around the laundromat parking lot while BCI agents documented the scene.
What happens next is the BCI investigation. Agents will interview the officers and any witnesses, collect body-camera and cruiser video where it exists, and reconstruct both the pursuit and the shooting. The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office will identify the person who died once next of kin have been notified. NewsForce247 will update this story when the Attorney General’s Office or BCI releases the person’s name and the agencies’ fuller account of what happened at the end of the chase.
Related coverage: Akron Man Shot 15 Times Sues Officer and City in Federal Court and Cleveland Man Convicted in 2025 Akron Killing; Sentencing Set for Nov. 17.
Update — Friday, November 13, 2026: The man killed has been identified as Robert Ashley, 62, of Tallmadge, according to an Ohio State Highway Patrol news release reported by the Akron Beacon Journal. The patrol said Ashley was driving a 2004 Volvo S40 when he fled a traffic stop on Friday morning, and that Akron post troopers were asked to help Norton police pursuing the vehicle, joining them on Interstate 77, the Beacon Journal reported. Troopers performed a precision immobilization technique on the Volvo, stopping it in the 1200 block of South Main Street in Akron, according to the release. The patrol said Ashley produced a weapon and fired at officers, resulting in an officer-involved shooting, and that he was pronounced dead after life-saving measures failed, the Beacon Journal reported. No officers were injured. Officials have not yet said whether a trooper or a Norton officer fired the shots that killed Ashley, and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation investigation remains ongoing, according to the Beacon Journal.