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.
Heh ... but he started it! ;)
I really don't mind his opinion; I just don't see why we need to get into a flamefest over such a minor side point only tangentally related to the main story. Whether the OHP pulls you over for going 1mph over the limit or 50mph, or even if they're writing you up for something you aren't even guilty of just because he happens to be a power-hungry jerk; you're still practically guaranteeing your own death if you pull a gun on a cop, especially after a high-speed chase (thought this moron apparently tried to pull his gun both before and after the chase). Just take the stupid ticket, and fight it via the system afterwards, if that's what you want to do. You'll probably win, you'll waste a ton of the trooper's time because he'll have to show up in court to give testimony, and then get to annoy him even more by showing his accusation against you was false. All without anyone getting a scratch on them.
That's one reason I do tend to like local government more than non-local government. At least when the population levels aren't too high and the law enforcement guys personally know or are acquainted with the more eccentric individuals and know how to handle them. I saw a situation at the end of this dead-end road that ended well enough probably because the cops were using the guy's first name and obviously had dealt with him before but they didn't seem too inclined to make things worse.
I tried to do 15 over on the Katy Freeway one morning going to work but the cars in front of me were doing about 65 under!!!!
Stay safe; stay armed.
Thanks for the information, Jaidyn!
You talked about the Constitutionality of DUI stops, which, IMO, is really not relevant to the topic. If you meant that as general commentary rather than casting judgement upon the specifics of that story, then I apologize for drawing the wrong conclusions from your post...
Yep.
"Misprize common sense at your peril." -- Kingsley Amis.
Until the automobile, there were no traffic laws and yet there was plenty of traffic. In most states the power of police are predicated on a signed affidafit by another citizen before you can be arrested.
A traffic stop is an arrest and some do believe that this is a suspension of the common law right of travel. I agree but have never said anything about any justification of this particular event. There isn't enough information to draw a conclusion one way or the other yet I notice that you and others like you are quick to condemn the civilian even though it isn't even clear whether or not it was he who inflicted the fatal wounds.
The Supreme Court has ruled that your right of self-defense indeed extends to the killing of cops who are acting outside their authority. If you have a beef, perhaps it is with the Supreme Court and the constitution itself. That does seem to be a pattern with you.
Oh yeah you profess your outrage at the outrage, but then at the end you show your agenda.
Sheesh you shouldn't try to use Hillary like rhetoric on FR. If I were you I would ask Paul Begala for a refund on his telephone seminar of how to post on FR.
This assumes that it wasn't the police who fired first or that he even inflicted the wound causing the police officer to die. I'd say that we don't have that information.
That's because conservatives don't play the race card; only the leftist racists do that in order to pander to the very groups whose lives they've destroyed through 35+ years' worth of entitlements.
Let me be the first since I'm sure it will come up. Disturbed right winger kills black cop....no way that is going to get a pass.
I don't currently have the stomach to go look, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprise if the DUh squad has already latched onto this. Like Ann Coulter wrote, they'll say anything to slander conservatives, no matter how much of a lie it might be.
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