WEST UNION, Ohio — An Adams County sheriff’s deputy and a suspect were both shot Thursday night in West Union after deputies responded to a call on Hope Lane, according to Adams County Sheriff Kenny Dick, who described the incident to FOX19 (WXIX).
The sheriff told FOX19 that deputies were called to Hope Lane in West Union around 9:25 p.m. Thursday for the report of a mental health-related incident. When deputies arrived at the scene, a suspect opened fire, the sheriff told FOX19. Deputies fired back, and both the deputy and the suspect were shot.
Both the deputy and the suspect were taken to UC Medical Center in Cincinnati, Sheriff Dick told FOX19. The extent of their injuries was unknown as of the sheriff’s account to FOX19, and neither the deputy nor the suspect had been publicly identified in that reporting.
Other Ohio outlets reported the same core facts overnight. WLWT reported that the sheriff said a deputy had been shot and flown to a hospital, and cleveland.com reported that an Adams County deputy was shot and airlifted to UC Medical Center. Those accounts are consistent with the sheriff’s statements to FOX19 on who was hurt and where the wounded were taken.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating the shooting, according to FOX19’s reporting of the sheriff’s statements. Officer-involved shootings in Ohio are commonly turned over to the state bureau for an independent investigation, and BCI’s findings in cases of this kind are typically forwarded to the county prosecutor for review.
West Union is the Adams County seat in southern Ohio, along the Ohio River. Hope Lane is a residential street in the village. No road closures or continuing public-safety threat in West Union were reported in the sheriff’s account to FOX19, and no additional injuries were reported in that account.
What happens next will depend on the BCI investigation and on medical updates from UC Medical Center. As of early Friday, the sheriff’s office had not publicly released the names of the deputy or the suspect, their conditions, or further detail about what led to the exchange of gunfire, according to FOX19. NewsForce247 will update this story when the sheriff’s office or BCI releases confirmed information.
Photo: Aesopposea, CC BY-SA 3.0 — the Adams County Courthouse in West Union.