Sheriff: SWAT response was necessary

NEWARK - Licking County Sheriff Randy Thorp said Wednesday that sending the SWAT team and closing Ohio 13 on Tuesday afternoon after a report of a man with a gun was the necessary response.

Deputies were called to the home on the 3100 block of Mount Vernon Road (Ohio 13) around 2:20 p.m. Tuesday after a woman called 911. On the 911 call, obtained by The Advocate, the woman is heard saying "Give me the gun" before the call disconnects.

When dispatchers called the number back, the woman answered and said a man in the home had a gun to his head, had been drinking, was terminally ill and was suicidal.

The woman said the man had threatened to pull the trigger if he saw deputies arrive.

Col. Chad Dennis said when deputies responded to the home, the man went into the home and a single gunshot was heard.

Thorp said Wednesday the round that was fired had exited the residence through an exterior wall. Concern for the safety of others in the area was part of the reason for closing the road.

"It was closed to keep the general public safe and not having them driving by and have a round come out and hit someone," he said. "We didn't want anyone getting hurt."

Thorp said if additional shots had been fired or if there was an exchange with the SWAT team, traffic would have been at risk had the road not been closed.

The woman and a small child in the residence had exited the home before the shot was fired, according to the 911 calls.

Man dead after Ohio 13 SWAT situation

Because of the nature of the call and the use of a firearm, the SWAT team was called in to assist. Thorp said the SWAT team response was also due in part to initial reports that the woman and child were still inside the residence.

Tear gas was used before deputies entered the residence, Dennis said.

When deputies got inside the home, they located a man with a fatal, apparently self-inflicted, gunshot wound.

The incident remains under investigation, but the man's death is being considered a suicide.

Newton Elementary School, which is located less than a mile north of the residence, had been alerted by the Sheriff's Office of the situation. Dennis said there was concern about students and buses traveling on Ohio 13 while the situation was ongoing. School buses were permitted to leave around 4:20 p.m.

The Advocate does not typically identify victims of suicide.