Amazon driver recalls firing in self-defense at Middletown man with knife

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (WXIX) - An Amazon delivery driver is not facing any charges after he shot a knife-wielding man on Sunday.

The driver, Gino Grove, was out on his route when the suspect, Christopher Roberts, walked up to him with a knife, according to Middletown police.

“Obviously, he [Grove] was in fear,” explained Middletown Police Chief David Birk. “So, in defense of himself, he was able to discharge a firearm striking the individual in the leg area.”

The police report shows Roberts was suspected of being under the influence of drugs when he confronted the Amazon driver.

“I see a guy running full speed at me,” Grove recalled Wednesday. “He’s yelling, ‘Knife fight! Knife fight!’ And I look, and he has this big blade in his hand.”

Grove, a married father-of-three, says he saw Roberts shortly before the attack sneaking around his car, so he was already on high alert.

“I raise my firearm and I try to tell him, ‘Stop, stop, stop!’ He’s like, ‘Knife fight! Knife fight!’ And he’s looking at me and got these bugged-out eyes, and he’s coming at me close.”

Grove says he shot Roberts in the leg and Roberts barely reacted.

“I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness, this did not work on this man,’” Grove said. “He has a knife in his hand. I’m about to get gutted out here.”

In that moment, Grove says he was petrified and was defending his life in order to see his family again.

“I had to fend for my life at that moment, because that guy was attacking me with a knife,” he said. “He came at me with a knife. If I didn’t have my firearm, I would not be here today. I know that for a fact. I would not be here today. My family would be planning my funeral.”

After being shot in the leg, Roberts ran from the scene and was eventually found by police who took him to Atrium Medical Center, Birk said.

Officers were investigating the shooting to determine if it was done in self-defense when Roberts walked out of the hospital, the chief explained.

“Him walking away from the hospital kind of helped clarify the situation that the Amazon delivery driver was just defending himself,” Birk said.

Police found Roberts and took him to a different hospital for treatment.

He is facing charges of felonious assault.

Grove says he has been deactivated as a driver by Amazon and, as of now, is unsure where his employment stands as a delivery driver.

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