Sheriff: Gnadenhutten shooter most likely among victims
GNADENHUTTEN – Tuscarawas County’s Sheriff says early indications suggest one of the adults killed in Wednesday’s shooting on North Cherry Street was the shooter, and one of the three victims was their 22-month-old grandchild.
Sheriff Orvis Campbell says his office, the coroner’s office and the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner are still investigating the deaths of a 67-year-old male, a 51-year-old female and a 22-month-old boy, all found with gunshot wounds at a home in the 200 block of North Cherry Street around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday.
He says deputies found a gun near one of the adults, and interviews with family members identified a recent history of mental health issues.
However, he is waiting for the conclusion of the investigation and autopsies before making a definitive statement.
“At this point, we’re not ruling this case anything, neither us nor the coroner’s office,” Campbell said.
“We want to make sure that we do our due diligence and rule out any other possibility that this shooter came from the outside. But the indications right now are that one of the deceased is the shooter, and we’ve not been able to find anything that contradicted that at this point.”
Campbell says dispatchers received a 9-1-1 hang-up call around 4:20 a.m. They called back several times, hearing a faint call for help during one of those attempts. Eventually, they tracked down the phone and an address.
Campbell says another resident living in the separate garage portion at that address let them into the house where they uncovered the tragic scene.
He says the adults at that address were helping to care for the child, along with his mother who lives nearby.
Campbell says investigators don’t know what led to the violence. He said the boy was staying overnight at his grandmother’s, and neighbors saw them happy and playing outside the day before.
Campbell described it as an immeasurable tragedy that significantly impacts the family, the community and law enforcement.
The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct autopsies. The coroner’s office did not immediately identify the victims.