36-year-old Kirkersville Police Chief Steven Eric Disario was responding to an active shooting situation at the Pine Kirk Care Center in Kirkersville, Oh. when he was ambushed by the gunman. According to Licking County Sheriff Randy Thorp, when deputies arrived on the scene as backup, they found the father of six lying dead in the street and three people dead inside the nursing home.
Reports of an active shooting received by Ohio police
Police officers arrived at the Pine Kirk Care Center, located in the 200 Block of E Main Street, shortly before 8 a.m. on Friday after receiving reports of an active shooter in the nursing home. After finding the police chief lying in the street, they discovered three other people lying dead inside the nursing home. According to Thorp, police believe the gunman was among the dead and that the other two victims were staff members at the nursing home.
As reported by the New York Daily News, no residents of the home were injured in the shooting incident.
Initially, the 23 residents stayed sheltered at the home but were gradually relocated to nearby hospitals. Police are planning to interview witnesses who were inside the home at the time of the shooting.
According to officials, the nearby Kirkersville Elementary School went on lockdown after the shooting and will remain closed for the time being. Students who were in the school at the time of the shooting were moved to a middle school close by, ready to be collected by their parents.
The area will remain closed while police investigate the crime. Police have not yet identified the shooter or the motive for the shooting.
The nursing home has a history
The Dayton Daily News reportedly performed a search and discovered that nine of the nursing home’s current residents were registered sex offenders.
That newspaper had previously run an investigation that uncovered the fact that back in 2016, almost half of the home’s residents were sex offenders, with a background of various serious crimes.
Kirkersville is a small town with a population of under 600 residents and Thorp said there are not always police on duty.
Disario was promoted to chief of the Kirkersville Police three weeks prior to the deadly shooting. He was a father of six, whose wife is pregnant with their seventh child.
After hearing the news, Ohio Governor John Kasich sent out condolences via Twitter, following up with an official statement a few hours later. In the statement, Kasich said that Ohio is mourning the loss of Chief Eric Disario, an officer who had died in the line of duty.