Swat Team Hostage Situation

NEWARK, Ohio – Tuesday afternoon the Licking County Sheriff’s Office and SWAT team was called to a home north of Newark for a domestic violence situation that turned into a suicide.

According to Detective Captain Chris Slayman, deputies were dispatched at approximately 2:30 p.m. to a home in the 3000 block of Mt. Vernon Road, just north of the city limits of Newark and just north of the Flamingo Drive intersection.

According to Captain Slayman a male had barricaded himself and a woman in the home. Deputies worked to try to get the woman out of the home and used megaphones to try to communicate with the man inside the home, who was thought to be armed.

The woman was able to escape out the back of the home with the assistance of a deputy. At this point there was no one else in the home besides the suspect.

Reports say a solo gunshot was heard from inside the home. The Licking County SWAT team then broke down the door and found the suspect inside the home, dead on the floor from a self inflicted gun wound.

The incident closed State Route 13 for several hours. The road reopened in both directions just before 6 p.m. According to Captain Slayman the woman in the home appears to be ok.

The incident remains under investigation by Licking County Sheriff’s Office and we’ll bring you more details as they become available to us.