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.
You have no idea whether or not this is true and neither do I. There aren't enough verifiable facts to say one way or another.
The constitution does not give you the right to harm me or to place me in harms way. Sorry but that is exactly what you are arguing.
Nonsense.
I pinged you on the other thread but I might as well repeat myself here. It looks like he planned this for a while.
Why don't you tell that to the family of Officer Taylor, according to you didn't know that he was pulling over such a "saint".
I think I am going to barf over your sanctimony for a cop killer. You sound like Ed Asner defending Mumia Jamal or whatever that guys name who is on death row for killing a cop in Philadelphia.
Funny, in my 5000 lb. SUV I feel pretty safe on the highway. The only place I ever get robbed while on the road is at the gas pump.
It's walking around some of the neighborhoods in my area that I feel at risk. The cops need to be where the bad guys are.
How did the cop get shot in the back? I find it hard to imagine that after a chase, the cop would treat it like a routine stop and casually turn his back on the "perp." Even I know not to do that.
There are still a lot of un-answered questions about this.
But people like CJ can never really be right. There is no sign that he actually cares about cops or anything other than his own passions. If the thread were about turnips he would ruin it with some gratuitous, hateful sniping. He as much as spit on both of the deceased. CJ, as well, could give some thought as to where and when to make a point.
No, it's not. A standard ballistic check, if the projectiles aren't much damaged, is a very simple thing. And just to show us all that you have a brain instead of a pea (fat chance): how many of the police officers do you think were armed with a 32 auto? Quick, think of a number *8).
Whatever it was, it didn't justify shooting a police officer in the back.
Why don't you look up crime statistics and then compare them to the number of highway deaths every year...I did a little research for you:
Traffic Fatalities: WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Overall U.S. traffic fatalities rose slightly in 2001 to an 11-year high at more than 42,100 as motorists traveled 2.77 trillion miles,
Violent Crimes:Highlights include the following:
Nearly 1 in 5 injured violent crime victims, or an average of just under 480,000 persons per year, were treated in an emergency department or hospital for violence-related injuries. Of the violent crimes measured by the NCVS, a higher percentage involved injury when committed by an intimate partner (48%) or a family member (32%) than when committed by a stranger (20%).
Between 1992 to 1998, 72% of the average annual 21,232 homicide victims age 12 or older were killed with a firearm.
Your post suggests moral equivalence. This was clearly the fault of the extremist nut who shot the police officer in the back. No moral equivalence here.
I can guarantee you that if you were to go out and kill a cop in this fashion, and getting killed yourself, cops would search your house for whatever evidence might throw some light on the incident. Including your computer.
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