Man dies after being shot by Ohio County deputy sheriff

An Ohio County sheriff’s deputy shot a suspect who later died as a result of his injuries Monday.

Ohio County sheriff’s deputies were called to a complaint about a disturbance in the 700 block of Dan Road in Horse Branch just after 7 p.m., Ohio County Sheriff Adam Wright said in a statement. When they arrived, the deputies made contact with a male suspect at his home, but the sheriff said the man “brandished a shotgun before retreating into the wood line to conceal himself from law enforcement.”

In addition to deputies from his office, the sheriff said the Hartford Police Department, Beaver Dam Police Department and Kentucky State Police sent officers to the scene, and they “set up a perimeter around the wood line until a determination was made to send a team of three deputies into the woods” to try to find the suspect.

While they were searching, the man came out “and made contact with a sheriff’s deputy,” the sheriff’s statement said.

“After failing to comply with multiple commands made by the deputy, the suspect charged at her with his hand concealed behind his back. Shots were then fired by the deputy,” according to the sheriff’s statement.

He said officers immediately rendered first aid until Ohio County EMS arrived.

The man was taken to Skyline Hospital in Nashville, where the sheriff said he died as a result of his injuries.

The deputy has been placed on administrative leave as dictated by the policy of the sheriff’s department. Kentucky State Police are investigating.