OH · 5230 Douglas Drive (backyards), North Olmsted, OH 44070 · November 4, 2023
Bodycam: Man Flees Burning House, Opens Fire on Police
Officers searching backyards in North Olmsted, Ohio, exchange gunfire with a man fleeing a burning house - and police bodycam footage catches the moment one of them realizes he's been hit. This documentary reconstructs the full night from dispatch to aftermath.
Reconstructed timeline
Times from synchronized camera clocks and dispatch records.
1:26 AM
Earliest recovered footage begins
The earliest clocked media (an Axon 'Video Recall' bodycam buffer) begins ~13 minutes before dispatch. Establishing/pre-incident only.
1:39 AM
911: bloody man reports attempted murder
A woman on Park Ridge Drive calls NOPD: a male covered in blood says there was an attempted murder at his uncle's house. NOPD dispatched ~01:39-01:40 (report time, minute-level). The bloody man is the person later detained as a witness.
1:44 AM
Officers hear a gunshot; house crackling
Officers staged near the target house hear what they believe is a gunshot and crackling noises; the house appears to be on fire (report, minute-level ~01:44-01:46).
1:46 AM
Man runs out of the burning house; foot pursuit
A male runs from the front of the house into the backyard; an officer shouts 'police, don't move.' Radio reports someone running westbound on Berkshire Drive cutting through yards; the house is confirmed on fire and NOFD requested (report, ~01:46-01:47).
1:48 AM
Gunfight: officer hit, Nock shot
An officer advises he has the male at gunpoint; ~15 seconds later ~30 rounds are exchanged. The officer is struck in the forearm and chest (vest stops the chest round) and returns fire with his patrol rifle; a Westlake officer also fires (WPD reported 8 rounds). Nock is struck and goes down…
1:58 AM
Nock secured and weapon located
Officers approach the downed Nock. Wolcott (with Westlake Officer Posante on a ballistic shield) kicks out two fence boards, removes a Beretta APX handgun from Nock's hands, tears down a fence section, and pulls Nock into the open yard. He is wearing a black ski mask and blue surgical gloves, with…
1:59 AM
CPR begins on Nock
Officers handcuff Nock and begin chest compressions/emergency trauma care.
2:03 AM
Fire/EMS arrive; house fully engulfed
NOFD and mutual-aid fire crews work the fully engulfed house fire. Ammunition cooking off inside the burning home is heard and initially mistaken for additional gunshots; neighboring homes are evacuated.
2:05 AM
Nock transported to Fairview Hospital
NOFD transports Nock to Fairview General Hospital (report, minute-level).
2:09 AM
Officers canvass residents
Officers speak with residents at their doorways about the fleeing suspect and the K9 track; a resident appears in a bathrobe at the front door.
2:35 AM
Witness stopped on Lorain Road
Rocky River PD stop the bloody male (the detained witness) walking on Lorain Rd at Dover Center Rd, heading toward the police station (report, minute-level). He has injuries and is later transported to St. John Medical Center.
2:42 AM
Witness detained and Mirandized
Officers handcuff the witness on the sidewalk and read Miranda rights while questioning him about the uncle and the shooting.
2:44 AM
Witness describes being assaulted with a pistol
On camera, the witness describes being forced from the home at gunpoint, marched to the park and made to strip, and struck with the pistol. This on-scene account foreshadows the fuller interview statement.
2:47 AM
Witness placed in cruiser 7716
The witness is placed into the back of NOPD cruiser 7716 for transport/continued investigative custody.
3:00 AM
Deceased man found inside the home
After the fire is extinguished, an unknown deceased male (the witness's uncle) is found in a hallway with a gunshot wound to the right side of his face; the Cuyahoga County ME takes custody. Exact discovery time not stated; placed after firefighting.
12:29 PM
Search warrant at Nock's home
NOPD detectives execute a search warrant at 24565 Clareshire Drive Unit 10, seizing two glass pipes with burnt residue, a plastic Beretta case, and an APX grip frame (report, later that day).
12:53 AM
Thomas Nock pronounced dead
Nock dies of his injuries; official time of death 00:53 hrs 11/5/2023, reported by Cleveland Clinic PD to NOPD.
1:30 PM
Witness gives written statement
The witness provides a 4-page written statement at NOPD (report time).
12:00 AM
Involved officer interviewed by BCI
Ohio BCI conducts a recorded interview of an involved officer (audio in the evidence set). Part of the OIS investigation (BCI case 2023-2941).
Scene maps
Related cases
CASE-127 · OH · August 22, 2023
Held His Family Hostage for 10 Hours, Then SWAT Set the Charge
She is 19, wedged under a bed upstairs with a dying phone, while the man downstairs paces a dark house with a shotgun - his own mother and brother barricaded in a back bedroom. Reconstructed from police bodycam footage, BCI interviews, and public records, this is the full Howland Township standoff, from the first callout to the explosive charge set on the only door the family ever uses.
Open case file
CASE-132 · OH · August 1, 2024
He Threw Knives and a Frying Pan at SWAT for Four Hours
A Columbus SWAT Bearcat is parked on the front lawn of a house on Cherryberry Drive, and the man inside won't come out. This police bodycam footage follows the four-hour standoff with Benjamin Wheeler, who answered every escalation - negotiators, tear gas, Tasers, a drone - by throwing whatever was in reach, from knives to a frying pan.
Open case file