HARRISON COUNTY, Ohio — A man engaged officers in two different shootouts before being fatally wounded as he fled from a multi-agency manhunt, according to the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident began on March 30 when a deputy stopped a vehicle for driving too closely to the vehicle in front of it.
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Body camera footage shows the deputy speaking to the driver as a man sat in the back seat. After several minutes, the deputy asked the driver to get out of the vehicle, followed by a man sitting in the back seat.
As the man was getting out of the car, the deputy asked if he could search him for weapons. The man refused the search before becoming combative.
The man then pulled a gun from his waistband before pointing it and firing at the deputy. The deputy, who was not struck, returned fire, but did not strike the suspect.
He then got into the stopped vehicle and fled.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol and Cadiz police joined the sheriff’s office in the pursuit. Officers deployed spike strips several times before the tire deflation devices disabled the vehicle, body camera video released by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office shows.
When the vehicle came to a stop, the suspect got out and xchanged gunfire with officers before fleeing into the woods, prompting a multiagency manhunt. A trooper’s patrol vehicle was struck during the exchange of gunfire.
After several hours, authorities located the suspect in a wooded area on Mine Road in Green Township. The Ohio State Highway Patrol Aviation Unit located him and repeatedly ordered him to surrender as officers and a K-9 unit moved in to take him into custody, video shows.
A third officer-involved shooting occurred during the arrest attempt when the suspect ignored commands and brandished his gun. He died from his injuries, according to the sheriff’s office.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating all three shooting incidents.
