A man accused of stabbing Wayne County Sheriff Tom Ballinger and a sheriff’s sergeant Tuesday morning was taken into custody after a nearly three-hour manhunt that ended with negotiators coaxing him down from the roof of a shed, authorities said.
The attack happened just before 11 a.m. in the 9000 block of Congress Road in Congress Township.
According to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, deputies initially responded around 9:42 a.m. to a report of a suspicious man who had threatened to kill a caller’s family. A deputy made contact with the man and issued a warning for disorderly conduct after determining he did not pose an immediate threat.
Authorities said a second call about the same man came in around 10:29 a.m. When Sheriff Ballinger and Sgt. Dan Broome responded, the suspect allegedly pulled out a folding knife and attacked both men.
Ballinger suffered a wound to the arm and was taken to Wooster Community Hospital. Broome suffered a wound to the groin and was transported to Summa Health System’s Akron campus. Both were treated and later released, officials said.
After the stabbings, the suspect fled on foot south along Congress Road, prompting a large law enforcement response involving multiple agencies from several counties and the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Authorities said the suspect was tracked in part through a Facebook Live video he was broadcasting during the incident.
Just before 1 p.m., officers located the suspect at a farm property near a wooded area, where he had climbed onto the roof of a shed. Officials said the man had poured gasoline on himself before negotiators convinced him to surrender around 2 p.m. without further incident.
The suspect, identified as Chad Palmer, was taken into custody and booked into jail pending charges.
Authorities said Palmer is known to law enforcement, has a history of mental health issues, and may have been under the influence of drugs at the time of the attack. Detectives continue to investigate.
