Suspect in officer involved shooting dies

Published 2:25 pm Tuesday, January 16, 2024

PEDRO — The domestic violence suspect who was shot by a law officer has died.

“He has passed away,” confirmed Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless.

The sheriff could not release the name of the suspect in the shooting.

Email newsletter signup

“Since it involved one of my officers, I turned the case over to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation,” Lawless said, because he didn’t want anyone think there were any improprieties in the investigation of the incident. “So, the name would have to come from BCI.”

No one was available to comment at BCI because the office was closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

The case began around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 9, when deputies from the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office went to a house at 9694 State Route 93 in Pedro after getting a call about a domestic violence situation with a suspect threatening to kill a woman on Tuesday night.

According to a press release from the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, when deputies arrived they were confronted in the front yard by a suspect with a weapon threatening to kill a woman.

A deputy fired his weapon and hit the suspect, who was then taken by ambulance to Cabell Huntington Hospital. He later passed away at the hospital.

A spokesperson for BCI confirmed that there was an investigation into the incident.

After BCI’s investigation is completed, the results of the officer’s involvement will be turned over to Lawrence County Prosecutor Brigham Anderson and his office will determine if the case will be sent to the grand jury or not.

BCI will not comment on the case further until either the grand jury declines to indict or if the case goes to court.