Massillon Patrol Officer
Eric Taylor
Posted on 08/10/2002 6:07:37 AM PDT by ResistorSister
MASSILLON (OHIO) -- A city police officer and a man he was chasing are dead, killed in a shootout at the old Agathon ballfield Friday night.
Killed were Eric Taylor, 31, a four-year veteran of the Police Department, and a still unidentified suspect.
“This is a major tragedy for our city,” said Mayor Francis Cicchinelli, who announced Taylor’s death at Massillon Community Hospital at about 11:45 p.m.
Taylor was married, with three young children.
Investigators from the Ohio Highway Patrol, Massillon Police Department and Stark County coroner’s office remained at the scene past midnight, as did the body of the suspect, a balding, white man who was driving a four-door Ford sedan with Stark County license plates. His body was covered with one sheet, another blocked the view of the more than 100 bystanders who gathered near First Street and Cherry Road NW.
The trouble began shortly before 8:30 p.m. on Route 21 and Edwards Road in Wayne County near Doylestown, according to Lt. Herb Homan, commander of the Wooster Post of the Highway Patrol.
One of his troopers had stopped the southbound Ford on Route 21 at 8:22 p.m. for speeding. The trooper talked with the driver, there was a confrontation and five minutes later, the trooper reported the car was fleeing. He chased it south, and Massillon police got involved.
The chase ended in Massillon east of Route 21, in the ballfield just south of Cherry Road.
Lt. Gary Lewis of the Highway Patrol said the man got out of his car with a high-powered semiautomatic weapon, and that he fired first at officers. At least three Massillon officers and a trooper were involved in the gunfire. He said they don’t know which officer fired the shot that killed the suspect nor do they know which shot killed Taylor.
Scott McElfresh said he was watching television in his home on Cherry Road, northeast of the scene, when he heard shots. He looked out his window and saw flashes from gunfire.
He estimated he heard four shots and then an additional 30 to 40 shots, and that he saw flashes indicating police were returning fire.
“It’s not something you expect to happen in Massillon,” he said.
Other witnesses said they heard 10 to 12 shots.
“We didn’t know if it was fireworks or gunshots,” said Dave Hodgson, who was with friends about a block to the north.
Stark County Coroner James Pritchard said the suspect died of gunshot wounds, but he won’t know how many until he does an autopsy on the man today. He’ll also do an autopsy on Taylor.
Taylor was rushed from the scene to Massillon Community moments after the shooting.
The suspect’s body remained on the corner of a field off of First Street and Cherry Road until after midnight. Police said they had not verified the man’s identification, and they wouldn’t release his name until family was notified.
Through the early morning, Taylor’s cruiser and the suspect’s car remained in the middle of the field on which The Arena is being built.
The Highway Patrol and Massillon police are sharing the investigation.
They used 44 red cups to mark shell casings and other pieces of evidence on First Street. Bright lights illuminated the scene, showing the back window of a Massillon cruiser was shattered, and glass was scattered across the street.
A helicopter from Columbus was brought in to map the crime scene.
A handful of officers not involved in the investigation showed up at the scene, some in uniform and some in street clothes, somber and stone faced. Family of other officers showed up, patted a couple of officers on the back, shook their hands and hugged them.
A police chaplain met with the family at Massillon Community.
A red tent for officers was pitched in the yard of the Massillon Recreation Center, across the street from the crime scene.
'Strong constitutionalist'? Try anarcho-libertarian-militia-nutcase.
I would agree. However, none of what you say here is established fact.
Poor fellow. There he was innocently going 15 mph over the unconstitutional speed limit, and a gang-banger police car came alongside to blast him, those Blue Meanies.
Uh, demidog, there is ample caselaw to allow states to set traffic laws regarding safety. Where does your concept end? Can someone do 180mphin a 55mph zone? Drive drunk?
I know, some people think they can own the highway and cops can't prevent them from doing it. There is a Risk/Return ratio for other drivers imposed by reckless drivers, and drunk drivers tend to confine other drivers, but supposedly that should be tolerated.
That's asinine. Rodney King never pulled out a gun. And this guy wasn't killed for a simple traffic stop, but for fleeing such, and then jumping out of his vehicle and shooting at officers, killing one of them.
The conservative movement gets soiled by this kind of idiocy...
He also could have been shot by a fellow officer on accident.
It could have been mass suicide, too. Sheesh.
Or maybe he got hit by a meteorite. The Perseids are coming down right about now.
That an irrational government-hating goon jumped out of his car firing a handgun at the cop doesn't rule out death-by-meteorite.
No there isn't. Traffic laws are adjudicated in administrative courts which are not subject to constitutional review. There are several states, Nevada included that have ruled at the Supreme Court level that you are not required to apply for a license in order to drive. Those cases just aren't publicised.
In Nevada a few years back, an 18 year old kid was able to successfuly argue all the way to the Supreme Court that the drivers license is not consitutional. It didn't overturn the drivers license because application for such a license is voluntary.
The Federal Constitution also requires that a State have a "republican form of government." That means the rule of law, and a Constitution that enumerates the limited powers of the State. If a State's Constitution does not grant it the power to regulate or criminalize vehicular operation or travel on roads, then any such laws or regulations are unconstitutional. Note, however, that a Constitutional grant of a general power to make laws and regulations to secure public safety would suffice.
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