Rochester Police are releasing more details about an incident where one of their officers fired a shotgun during the carrying out of a search warrant on Scio Street Wednesday afternoon.
Police say they were conducting an investigation into drug sales at 326 Scio as a result of getting complaints from people in the neighborhood as well as violence in that area.
As a search warrant team entered the building, an RPD investigator was confronted by a man holding a long metal object in a threatening matter. The investigator fired a round from a shotgun. Police say it later turned out the object the man was holding was a metal mop handle.
The man suffered a minor cut to the tip of one of his fingers and was treated at the hospital and released. Authorities say medical staff wasn't sure if the cut happened because of the shotgun or just occurred when the man fell.
He is identified as 47 year old Michael Coleman and he now faces various drug charges. Police say they found crack cocaine and marijuana, and additional charges are possible.
The investigator is identified by RPD as a 22 year veteran with the department, John Fiorica. He was placed on administrative duties pending the outcome of the internal investigation which is standard procedure.
