A 56-year-old Chillicothe man was shot by Pike County sheriff’s deputies Wednesday afternoon, November 11, after the sheriff’s office says he fired at deputies during a foot pursuit near Beaver, according to a news release from Pike County Sheriff Tracy D. Evans reported by the Scioto Post, J News Network and Hopewell Heritage Headlines.
The sheriff’s office received a theft complaint at about 2:22 p.m. Wednesday — the caller reported that Anthony D. Umphries, 56, of Chillicothe, had stolen a driver’s license — and deputies went to the 1400 block of State Route 335 near Walker Ridge Road in Beaver, where Umphries was believed to be staying, according to the sheriff’s release as reported by the Scioto Post.
Dispatch advised deputies that Umphries was considered armed and dangerous and held active warrants through the Ross County Sheriff’s Office for aggravated robbery, drug abuse and possession of drugs, according to the release account published by the Scioto Post. Deputies located Umphries inside an abandoned vehicle parked just off the roadway, and when they approached, he fled on foot into a wooded area, the sheriff’s office said.
During the pursuit, Umphries turned toward deputies and began firing shots at them, and deputies returned fire, striking him, according to the sheriff’s office. No deputies were injured. Umphries was taken into custody and transported by medical helicopter to Grant Medical Center in Columbus for treatment; his condition has not been released, the sheriff’s office said.
At Sheriff Evans’s request, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation will conduct the investigation into the officer-involved shooting, as is standard when an Ohio deputy or officer fires on duty, the sheriff’s office said. The sheriff’s office has not released the names of the deputies involved.
Beaver is a village in eastern Pike County, and State Route 335 is one of the main routes through that part of the county. The sheriff’s account, carried by three Scioto Valley outlets on Thursday from the same release, is at this point the only official version of the encounter: the theft complaint, the warrants warning, the abandoned vehicle, the foot chase into the woods, and the exchange of fire all come from the sheriff’s office, and BCI’s independent investigation has not yet reported any findings of its own.
What happens next rests with BCI’s investigation, which will reconstruct the pursuit and the shooting from deputy accounts, evidence at the State Route 335 scene and hospital and radio records. Any charging decisions connected to the warrants and the reported theft will be separate from BCI’s review of the shooting itself. NewsForce247 will append a labeled update to this article when BCI or the sheriff’s office releases further findings, including Umphries’ condition if officials make it public.