'Shoot Me!' Suspect Screamed, but Officer Jesse Kidder Held His Fire

— -- Police officer Jesse Kidder aimed his gun and the man charged, demanding that Kidder end his life.

“Shoot me!” the man screamed.

“No man, not gonna do it,” Kidder told the double-murder suspect in a tense confrontation Thursday that was captured on Kidder’s body camera.

The man, identified as Michael Wilcox, 27, allegedly shot his girlfriend and another person before leading police on a three-county chase near Cincinnati. That chase ended in the town of New Richmond, Ohio, where Kidder, a former Marine who served two tours in Iraq, became an officer April 16, 2014.

Kidder could be seen repeatedly backing up as Wilcox approached him. The officer said he watched Wilcox’s hands, making sure he wasn’t reaching for a weapon. At one point, Kidder fell backward, but the suspect relented as other officers arrived, laying down and extending his arms as police took him into custody.

Following the encounter, Kidder tried to downplay his actions.

“I'm not a hero. I know officers everyday want to go out and protect their communities and save lives,” he said.

Wilcox is charged with murder in the fatal shooting of his 25-year-old girlfriend, Courtney Fowler, and is a person of interest in a Kentucky slaying. Authorities say he had a violent encounter with Brown County investigators who tried to arrest him before he drove off and headed west toward Cincinnati.

The body cam that Kidder was wearing wasn’t issued by his department. It was given to him by a relative, he said. New Richmond Police Chief Randy Harvey said he hopes to get funding to buy additional body cameras for the department’s officers.

"For him to make the judgment call that he did shows great restraint and maturity," Harvey said. "This video footage, it eliminated all doubt that this officer would have been justified if, in fact, it came to a shooting."

Wilcox is being held in Brown County Jail on $2 million bond. He has not entered a plea. No attorney information was available, The Associated Press reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.