Easter Sunday ended with a suspect dead and a Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Deputy injured after a struggle ensued, according to officials.
The incident happened Sunday night just after 9pm. Deputies were dispatched to 8th Street NE and Fair avenue in New Philadelphia for reports of a vehicle crashing into a home.
When deputies arrived to the scene, one of them spotted a man walking and attempted to engage him. When the deputy began to exit his cruiser, the suspect then jumped into the passenger side and attempted to flee in the cruiser.
A struggle then ensued, resulting in shots being fired.
“One Deputy was injured in the hand and leg and the suspect successfully fled in the Sheriff’s cruiser,” Sheriff Orvis Campbell reported. “The suspect then crashed the cruiser into a parked car at Tell Street and East High. Both the parked car and the cruiser suffered extensive damage.”
Following the crash, the suspect was transported to Union Hospital with injuries where he was later pronounced dead.
“This was an extremely confusing scene that encompassed three crime scenes, Where the suspect’s vehicle crashed into the home, where the Deputy encountered the suspect and the struggle ensued and where shots were fired and where the suspect crashed the Sheriff Cruiser,” Campbell said. “Details are sketchy at this time. The Bureau of Identification and Investigation was requested by me to complete the investigation since a Deputy was involved in the shooting.”
It’s unclear at this time if the suspect died from gunfire or from the crash itself.
The Deputy’s injuries were described as non-life threatening.
More information will be released as it’s known.