Trish Bennett, Editor
CIRCLEVILLE – The Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office has identified Ron Smith as the man killed in an officer-involved shooting early Tuesday morning on Five Points Pike.
Smith, 45, was declared dead at the scene by members of Tri-County EMS of Mt. Sterling, and an autopsy has been ordered by Dr. John Ellis, Pickaway County Coroner, according to Lt. Dale Parish.
The incident is being investigated by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
In a press release issued Tuesday afternoon, Sheriff Robert Radcliff said dispatchers received a call about 1:22 a.m. from the National Veteran Crisis Line advising they had a suicidal man named Ron on their chat line who was claiming to have a rifle and threatening suicide.
Two deputies were dispatched to the residence at 18290 Five Points Pike, Radcliff said. They were confronted Smith with a rifle in his hands outside the residence. He was shot and fatally wounded.
Radcliff said Smith’s family members were inside the residence at the time of the shooting, but none of them were involved at the scene, and they were unaware of the incident unfolding outside.
Both deputies, whose identities have not yet been released, have been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation, Radcliff said. By department policy, the leave is standard procedure for officers involved in fatal shootings as the investigation continues and until they are deemed emotionally prepared to return to work.
More information will be released as it becomes available, he said.
This article originally appeared on The Pickaway News Journal
