Holly MatkinChillicothe, OH – Bodycam and security footage captured the moment when a Ross County sheriff’s sergeant was shot and seriously wounded by a suspect who opened fire on him outside the sheriff’s office on Thursday night (video below).
Few details have been released regarding the shootout, which took place outside the RCSO in downtown Chillicothe shortly before 5 p.m. on Nov. 17, WSYX reported.
Bodycam footage showed the suspect, later identified as 42-year-old Nicholas Mitchell, as he walked up to the building.
RCSO Sergeant Eric Kocheran greeted the approaching suspect from the sheriff’s office doorway.
“Hey, buddy,” Mitchell responded. “Can you help me out with something real quick? Can you get a couple more officers?”
“What’s going on?” the sergeant asked.
“Um, somebody said they’re gonna hurt my family,” Mitchell told him as he kept his right hand stuffed into his pocket. “They wanted me to hurt kids, and I can’t do it. So, I gotta do this.”
The suspect quickly pulled a gun out of his pocket and pointed it at the sergeant, who immediately drew his duty weapon while simultaneously trying to retreat into the building, WSYX reported.
Security footage showed the gunman as he appeared to shoot Sgt. Kocheran in his upper body, according to the news outlet.
The sergeant returned fire, hitting Mitchell, who subsequently collapsed to the pavement.
“We heard this rapid gunfire,” said Vanessa Myers-Dudley, who was working at a nearby store when the incident occurred.
“I looked outside and I saw the police tape was wrapped around the back of the jail and basically the whole south side of Second Street was cop cars and ambulances and firetrucks pulled up and then it a few minutes after that we saw the ambulance pull away with a bunch of sheriffs and cop cars escorting them away,” Myers-Dudley told WSYX.
Mitchell was transported to a local hospital, where he later died, the Chillicothe Gazette reported.
The wounded deputy was transported to Grant Medical Center in Columbus, where he was listed in serious condition.
Details regarding the series of events leading up to the shootout have not been released.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is handling the ongoing investigation at the request of Ross County Sheriff George Lavender, WBNS reported.
“Every officer puts on the uniform in the morning knowing that today could be the day they face a deadly attack – and they go to work anyway,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement, according to WSYX. “Sgt. Kocheran demonstrated that daily dose of courage. I ask for prayers for his recovery and for his family, who face a trauma I would wish for no one.”
Watch the incident unfold in the video below. Warning – Graphic Content:
Sandy Malone