Father arrives home to hostage situation, is shot and still manages to return fire and stop his attacker

by Chad D. Baus

The Daily Jeffersonian of Cambridge, Ohio is reporting that a hostage situation led to a pair of shootings in Guernsey County's Liberty Township on February 28 and sent two men to the hospital with gunshot wounds.

From the article:

According to a Southeastern Med spokesperson, the male assailant who allegedly held the second man's family hostage was in "critical" condition following surgery at the hospital and the male victim who was initially shot was in "serious" condition following surgery.

"They were both taken by ambulance to Southeastern Med," Guernsey County Sheriff Mike McCauley said. "I do know the victim was shot in the back."

Authorities declined to say where the second male was shot.

The preliminary investigation conducted by the sheriff's office suggested the victim arrived home from work to a hostage situation.

"When he arrived home, his family was being held hostage," McCauley said.

Deputies were alerted to the shooting at 3:44 p.m. via a 911 call from the victim's wife.

According to a press release issued by the sheriff's office, the victim was reportedly confronted by the assailant in his driveway.

The assailant was armed and pointed the gun at the victim while ordering him inside the residence.

Once inside the home, the victim was ordered downstairs, at which time he was reportedly shot in the back by the assailant while walking down the stairs.

The article goes on to say that the victim was eventually able to obtain a firearm and return fire.

"The victim managed to get a firearm and he returned fire," striking the shooter, McCauley said.

Struck by the return fire, the assailant fled the residence on foot with the firearm. He was later located by deputies inside a nearby residence.

Both men were reportedly transported to the hospital by United Ambulance.

The sheriff's Critical Incident Team was dispatched to the scene on Tyner Road to conduct the investigation.

The family of the victim was reportedly not injured.

Although authorities did not release what type of weapons were used in the shootings, a former student of mine who is related to the victims in this case informed me that the attacker had a shotgun loaded with deer slugs, and the defender was able to return fire and stop the attack with a .22 single shot rifle.

As Greg Ellifritz said in his highly popular BuckeyeFirearms.org article exploring the stopping power of various cartidges, "what matters even more than caliber is shot placement."

Indeed.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Vice Chairman.