CRIME

Tuscarawas deputies kill armed man at Mineral City home

Nancy Molnar
The Times-Reporter
Tuscarawas County sheriff's deputies fatally shot Everett M. Martin, 43, on Wednesday morning after, the sheriff said, Martin fired a gun at them outside this Mineral City home.

MINERAL CITY ‒ Deputies fatally shot a 43-year-old man who fired a handgun at them Wednesday morning outside a home in Mineral City, according to Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell.

He said Everett M. Martin was killed in the exchange.

The sheriff said the confrontation happened after deputies were called at 9:25 a.m. to a home on East Third Street by a woman who said a man was at her home in violation of a protection order.

More: Tuscarawas County coverageMan wounded by sheriff's deputies.

"She was hiding inside the residence in fear," Campbell said. "The initial deputies got on scene. They ended up having to locate the guy in a back, fenced-in area. Some of them had to climb over the fence to get in. He said he had a weapon."

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The deputies tried to de-escalate the situation, the sheriff said. Two different deputies spoke to him, trying to get him to calm down.

"He almost immediately indicated he was going to die that day in (the) yard," Campbell said. "He indicated initially that he had a knife. He then tried to flee and go in the house where the woman was hiding."

Tuscarawas County sheriff's deputies fatally shot Everett M. Martin, 43, on Wednesday morning after, they said, he fired a gun at them outside this Mineral City home.

Campbell said a deputy initially shot a non-lethal beanbag round at Martin.

"He immediately turned and had a handgun in his hand," Campbell said. "He fired off that weapon ... we believe more than once. And the deputies returned fire and he was killed at the scene."

Shots were first reported to have been fired at Martin at 9:56 a.m., according to Campbell. Deputies first arrived at 9:33 a.m.

An ambulance was on standby during the incident, Campbell said.

Martin had pleaded not guilty in New Philadelphia Municipal Court to charges of aggravated menacing and domestic violence on Sept. 19 for a Sept. 18 incident to which deputies responded in Sandy Township. A report from the sheriff's office said a 48-year-old woman, the same woman who called deputies to her Third Street home on Wednesday, reported receiving serious threats from Martin, who was arrested at the same address.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating the shooting. Its report will be given to county Prosecutor Ryan Styer.

Times-Reporter staff writer Jon Baker contributed to this story.

Reach Nancy at 330-364-8402 or nancy.molnar@timesreporter.com. On Twitter: @nmolnarTR.