Hundreds of mourners, including law enforcement officers from departments across Ohio, gathered Thursday to honor the life of Rittman Police Sgt. Scott Ries, the officer killed in the line of duty while responding to Sunday’s deadly shooting in Rittman.
For hours, a steady line of family members, friends, neighbors and fellow officers filed into Northside Christian Church to pay their final respects to the 54-year-old sergeant, whose death has left the small Wayne County community grieving and the law enforcement profession reflecting on the dangers officers face every day.
Police cruisers filled the church parking lot as officers from agencies throughout the state came together to support Ries’ family and one another.
“It was very somber,” said George Gerken, an attorney with the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the union that represents the Rittman Police Department. “There were a lot of familiar faces — sheriffs, police officers and members of the community. I think everyone is still in disbelief.”
Gerken said gatherings like Thursday’s visitation are among the hardest moments in law enforcement because they serve as a reminder of the risks every officer accepts when putting on a badge.
“Every police officer who walks through those doors realizes it could have been them,” Gerken said. “They reflect on that for a moment, pay their respects, and then they go back to work because that’s what this profession requires.”
He said Ries’ death also highlights the dedication shared by officers across the country.
“Police officers don’t do this job because of the paycheck,” Gerken said. “They do it because they want to serve their communities. Every day they go to work knowing there is a possibility they may not come home.”
In a close-knit community like Rittman, Gerken said officers often know the people they’re responding to.
“Sgt. Ries likely knew the family he was responding to,” he said. “That speaks volumes about his character. He answered the call anyway.”
Among those paying their respects Thursday was Judy Dubey, who remembered Ries long before he became a police officer.
Dubey said she was a longtime friend of Ries’ mother, Janelle, and watched Scott grow up alongside her own children.
“I’ve known Scott since he was just a little boy,” Dubey said. “Our kids grew up together.”
She recalled caring for Scott and his sister while Janelle was in the hospital giving birth and remembered the neighborhood children as inseparable.
“They were the Three Musketeers,” she said.
Dubey said she eventually moved out of state and lost touch with the family, but when she learned Ries had been killed, she knew she had to come back and pay her respects.
“I was just in shock,” she said. “This is something you never expect, especially in a community like ours.”
She said her heart breaks for Ries’ family and hopes he did not suffer.
“I just wanted to give Janelle a hug,” Dubey said. “No parent should ever have to bury their child.”
Ries was killed Sunday night after officers responded to a 911 call reporting a break-in and shots fired. Authorities said officers were immediately met with gunfire.
The shooting also claimed the lives of Christie McWilliams and her 13-year-old daughter, McKinley McWilliams. Four Medina County sheriff’s deputies were wounded, along with Wayne County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Vick, who was released from the hospital Tuesday and continues recovering at home.
Funeral services for Ries are scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday at Northside Christian Church in Wadsworth, with burial to follow at Rittman Cemetery.
As the visitation came to a close Thursday evening, mourners quietly embraced one another before leaving the church, many still struggling to comprehend the loss of a husband, father, friend and officer whose service and sacrifice touched an entire community.
