BOLIVAR — A 46-year-old Canton man was taken into custody early Friday, Oct. 16, after Tuscarawas County deputies say shots were fired in their direction during a search that began with a late-night call near a gas station in the Wilkshire Hills area of Lawrence Township.
The Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office said the incident began at about 1:33 a.m., when the county dispatch center took a call from a resident who reported that a man was knocking at his door. The caller told dispatchers the man believed someone was chasing him, and that he kept walking toward Bolivar Dam.
A second call soon came in from a Canton woman, who told dispatchers she had dropped off the father of her child at the Speedway gas station and that he had walked away from it. According to the sheriff’s release, she said the man had been in crisis the night before, might have a gun, could be under the influence of a drug, and might be suicidal.
Deputies went to the area to look for the man and heard gunshots, which they believed were fired in their direction. Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers from the New Philadelphia post responded to assist, and officials said that after the troopers arrived, more shots were fired that came close to hitting law enforcement officers at the scene.
Shortly afterward, the man walked toward the officers and was ordered to the ground. The sheriff’s office said he complied and was taken into custody without further incident, and that deputies recovered a small semi-automatic handgun. While he was being detained, officials said, he repeated that someone had been chasing him, and he was believed to be under the influence.
No one was injured in the incident — not the suspect and not any of the deputies or troopers who responded, according to the release. The sheriff’s office did not release the man’s name, and officials said he had not been formally charged as of the announcement.
That could change as the investigation continues. The sheriff’s office said numerous charges are possible in the case, including attempted felonious assault, aggravated menacing, and using weapons while intoxicated. Any filing decision will turn on the evidence deputies and troopers collected during the early-morning encounter and on a review of the man’s statements and condition.
For residents in the quiet Wilkshire Hills and Bolivar area, the episode was a jarring start to Friday: a knock at a door in the middle of the night, gunfire close enough for deputies to believe it was aimed at them, and a multi-agency response that ended, by about the time most households were still asleep, with an arrest and no injuries reported.
