COLUMBIA TOWNSHIP — A man is in critical condition at an area hospital after deputies shot him during a confrontation outside his home, originally reported by our news partner WCPO Cincinnati.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office responded to a neighborhood around 4 p.m. Friday in Columbia Township after residents reported a man chasing people with a baseball bat, WCPO says.
“We all tried to help that guy out,” Byrd said to a WCPO reporter. “He came at my brother with a bat, and so that’s why we called the police.”
TRENDING STORIES:
- President Donald Trump to issue posthumous pardon for Pete Rose
- Wanted man arrested at local grocery store
- Man convicted of setting father’s fiancée on fire, killing her avoids death penalty
Deputies found Robert Eldred with a bat at the scene, according to WCPO. Eldred first ignored commands to drop the bat, then threw the bat at deputies. Next, he went into the home and returned with an axe, WCPO says.
Deputies fired a rubber bullet and a taser at Eldred, but Eldred still runs at deputies, WCPO says.
Deputies then fired at Eldred, hitting him in the left side once, and Eldred still continued toward deputies, according to WCPO. According to the sheriff’s office, Eldred tried to grab a deputy’s gun, WCPO says.
Another deputy deployed their taser at this time, which caused Eldred to fall to the ground, WCPO says.
Eldred continued to fight deputies as he was taken into custody. WCPO says he was kicking and screaming as he was being put in handcuffs.
Eldred was taken to an area hospital where he remains in critical condition, WCPO says.
Eldred is being charged with four counts of felonious assault in connection to the confrontation with deputies, according to WCPO.
[SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2025 Cox Media Group