Local

Trotwood active shooter suspect had multiple guns, police chief says

The suspect in the Trotwood active shooter incident is in jail after he surrendered to end an hours-long standoff with police.

  • Family members have identified the suspect as William Gibson, 42
  • His wife was shot and wounded in the house on Wolf Creek Pike
  • Gibson is accused of firing multiple rounds in the direction of officers
  • Police found multiple handguns and rifles in the home

UPDATE @ 8:10 p.m.

Police have found multiple guns -- handguns and rifles -- in the house on Wolf Creek Pike where a man fired several rounds at law enforcement during a standoff, Trotwood Police Chief Erik Wilson said.

“There are multiple firearms within that house,” Wilson said.

In his initial public statement about the incident, the chief said police were called to the house in the 4600 block of Wolf Creek Pike for an accidental shooting. Officers met a female, who had been wounded by gunfire, in the front yard.

Wilson said that while they were treating the victim, a male exited the house and gave officers “1 minute” to clear out. He returned to the home, fired at least one round inside the house and then began firing randomly from the house.

“My officers told me they felt as though they received fire aimed in their direction,” Wilson said.

Additional backup and SWAT teams were called because of the gunfire, the chief said, and because police didn’t know if anyone else was in the house.

“It could have been a hostage situation. It wasn’t,” Wilson said, “but we’re always going to air on the side of caution.”

The standoff lasted as long as it did, the chief said, because “as long as we had him on the phone, we didn’t feel the need to rush to put further officers in harm or put him in harm.”

Wilson said the choice to talk the man out instead of taking the home by force was the right thing to do.

The man -- whom Wilson would not identify by name until his detectives present their case to the county prosecutor’s office -- is known to Trotwood police.

A raft of charges are likely to be filed, not the least of which will be inducing panic, Wilson said.

UPDATE @ 5:01 p.m.

William Gibson, 42, has been booked into the Montgomery County Jail. Family members have identified him as the man who was firing a weapon at police.

Gibson was booked into the jail just after 3:30 p.m.

Trotwood police have not issued any statement about Gibson.

UPDATE @ 2:57 p.m. 

A woman who identified herself as the mother of the suspect said the active shooter and standoff situation started as an accidental shooting.

PHOTOS: Active shooter in Trotwood

The woman said the suspect’s wife was accidentally shot, before the suspect started firing shots in the direction of officers. The suspect fired approximately 11 times, according to emergency scanner traffic.

Family members said the wife was taken to an area hospital and is expected to be fine.

Another woman at the scene identified herself as the stepdaughter of the suspect. She was detained briefly after SWAT pulled her away from outside the house in the 4600 block of Wolf Creek Pike in Trotwood.

This news outlet is not publishing the identities of the suspect and victim until confirmed with authorities.

FIRST REPORT

Countywide officer assistance was requested in the 4600 block of Wolf Creek Pike in Trotwood following a shooting report.

Scanner traffic indicates the man is threatening to shoot officers, but is talking with investigators on the scene.

Shots have been fired in the directions of officers, according to police scanners.

0
Comments on this article