Police: Man stabs 2, killing 1, before officer shoots him

VICKERY, Ohio (AP) — A man stabbed two people, killing one of them and leaving the other with serious injuries, before an Ohio sheriff’s deputy shot him Tuesday at a turnpike plaza, authorities said.

Police responded at about 5:25 p.m. to the Erie Islands Service Plaza on the Ohio Turnpike for reports of two people being stabbed, according to an Ohio State Highway Patrol news release.

Officers encountered a man who was carrying a knife, at which point a deputy ordered him to drop it. The man charged the deputy, who in return shot him after less lethal force was unsuccessful, according to the news release.

The suspect was taken into custody and flown to a hospital.

One of the stabbing victims was pronounced dead at the scene and the other was flown to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said.

Sandusky County Sheriff Chris Hilton said investigators are still gathering information but “it appears, preliminarily, that it was a very random act of violence.”

Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. Ryan Purpura said authorities believe the two stabbing victims were simply people who had stopped at the service plaza.

The officer’s use of force will be investigated by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations.