KIRKERSVILLE, Ohio – A gunman fatally shot the police chief of an Ohio village and two nursing home employees Friday, and the suspected gunman was also found dead, a sheriff said.
Licking County Sheriff Randy Thorp identified the slain police chief as Steven Eric Disario, who headed the Kirkersville Police Department.
READ MORE: U.S. has 31% of the world’s mass shootings: study
Disario, 36, had only been on the job for about three weeks, Thorp said. He said the chief was a father of six children, with a seventh on the way.
Get daily National news
“It’s a hard day for all of us,” Thorp said.
Disario was responding to a report of a man with a gun, and his last radio communication said he had the suspect in sight, Thorp said.
Responding officers found Disario on the street and then investigated a report of a gunman in the nearby Pine Kirk Care Center, Thorp said.
Two employees of the centre and the suspected gunman were found dead inside the nursing home, the sheriff said.
READ MORE: Atlanta business requires workers to have gun at the office
He said police weren’t immediately able to positively identify the gunman and were trying to determine what, if any, relationship he had with the nursing home.
The shooting closed down the main street in the village, which was flooded with police officers from several surrounding agencies and with ambulances.
The state Bureau of Criminal Investigation is leading the probe into what happened.
- Associate of Frenchman on trial for mass rape admits to copycat abuse
- Arrests in Canada part of global takedown of criminal messaging app: police
- 6 cult leaders convicted of forcing kids to work unpaid or face ‘eternal hellfire’
- Robbers make off with US$150,000 after dropping through ceiling, video shows
Comments