RANDOLPH TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WJW) – A suspect was taken into custody after a standoff with a SWAT team and other law enforcement near the Portage County Randolph Fairgrounds on Tuesday.
According to the Portage County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to Randolph Township for a man who was shot. A passerby found the victim in a ditch on Fairgrounds Road. He was taken by EMS to a local hospital.
Investigators learned that the suspect in the shooting, a 36-year-old man, was barricaded in the home near where the victim was found. Deputies were warned that he had booby traps like 12-foot holes and explosives around the property.
The Portage County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team and local special response teams were called in to help with air support and a robot around 4:30 p.m.
While investigators cleared the property, the Ohio State Highway Patrol air support noticed the suspect running through the wooded area behind the property.
The suspect was found in a tree and taken into custody, investigators say. He was taken to the Portage County Jail.
The FOX 8 I-Team confirmed that, as a precaution, the Portage County Randolph Fairgrounds were placed on lockdown Tuesday afternoon.