VALLEY VIEW, Ohio — Days after a shooting in Valley View left one man dead and concluded with two people taken into custody following a fiery crash in Brooklyn Heights, police have announced that no charges will be filed at this time.
In addition, Valley View police say the shooting was "the end result of a traffic altercation between two vehicles" with the shooting victim determined to be "the aggressor in the incident."
The incident happened on Thursday morning near the area of Granger Road (State Route 17) and Brecksville Road (State Route 21). Dispatch audio reveals that officers were dispatched to the scene at approximately 9:45 a.m.
Valley View police say officers found a man bleeding from a gunshot wound lying in the street near a gray work van. The man, later identified as 41-year-old Christopher Andexler of Cleveland, was taken to MetroHealth Medical Center by EMS, where he was later pronounced dead.
Witnesses told Valley View police that a white minivan had left the shooting scene. The vehicle was later found crashed and on fire just off of Schaaf Road in Brooklyn Heights. According to Valley View police, the minivan caught fire "due to an apparent mechanical issue and then it rolled down a steep driveway into a wooded area."
Police in Brooklyn Heights took two 28-year-old adults in the minivan into custody and transported them to Valley View for questioning by officers there. Meanwhile, two children in the minivan (ages 2 and 4) were turned over to Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services.
Brooklyn Heights police also recovered the gun that was used in the shooting of Andexler.
"Based on the current information available, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office recommended that charges not be filed at this time," Valley View police stated in a release.
The case remains under investigation by both Valley View police and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI).
"Any charging determinations will be made when the investigative file is referred to our office for review," the prosecutor's office told 3News in an email. "After the investigation is complete, if there is a viable claim of self-defense, it may be reviewed by the Self-Defense Committee regarding appropriate charges, if any."
Michael Reiser, Andexler’s boss, told 3News' Annabelle Childers that he learned of Andexler’s death when BCI came by their place of work, Great Lakes Brookside Forklifts.
“I didn’t know what to think, it was a shock. You know, I saw him half an hour ago, and now he’s gone,” said Reiser. “He’s been here ten years, and obviously he’s like family to us. He was like a brother, great guy.”
Reiser says an investigator with BCI was trying to recover footage of the crash. At the time of the incident, Reiser says Andexler was driving a work van on the way to help a customer.
He says each work van is equipped with GPS, a dash camera, and a microphone, but the cameras activate on impact or when a vehicle suddenly breaks. Reiser is unsure whether the dash camera captured anything.