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Retired Clark Co. Sheriff shares his reaction to deputy’s passing

CLARK COUNTY — Former Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly spoke with News Center 7 about his reaction to the death of Deputy Matthew Yates.

Years ago, Kelly had to guide his deputies through the pain of losing deputy hopper Deputy Suzanne Hopper who died on New Year’s Day in 2011.

>>VIDEO: Colleagues remember deputy Suzanne Hopper

Yates was one of Kelly’s deputies as well.

Kelly was the Clark County Sheriff for 30 years and swore in Deputy Yates.

“I just couldn’t even hardly stand.,” Kelly said when describing how he reacted to the news of Yates’s passing. “I knew him when he was a young boy. His father was a deputy. I knew him his entire career.”

Deputy Matthew Yates was a 15-year veteran with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office. Kelly described Yates as a role model in his community.

“He knew how to control situations instead of escalate, he could calm them down, and he was a gentle giant; people say that about him.”

Yates and another deputy were responding to a shots fired report at ‘Harmony Estates Mobile Home Park’ Sunday morning. During their investigation, Yates was shot in the head.

>> UPDATE: 3, including deputy, dead in Clark Co. mobile home incident, coroner says

“It’s a dangerous job, and nothing, nothing prepares you for this,” Kelly added.

Current Clark County Sheriff Deb Burchett said in a press conference, “Deputy Yates was flown by CareFlight to Miami Valley Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.”

On the evening after the shooting, law enforcement officers from several agencies lined up along Main Street to show support.

>>VIDEO: Law enforcement procession escorts fallen Clark County deputy back to Springfield

“Please keep the Yates family in your thoughts and prayers and keep my Sheriff’s Office in your thoughts and prayers,” Burchett said.

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