Ohio Officer Shot, Suspect Killed in Gunfight, Pursuit

A call about a domestic disturbance in Hardin County turned deadly Saturday night, with a Kenton, OH, police officer shot and recovering in a Columbus hospital and the suspect dead.

About 5 p.m., Kenton Police took a call of trouble at a house on Grove Street in the northwest part of that city, which is about 60 miles northwest of Columbus.

As officers arrived, the suspect, identified as Steve Davis, 47, of Kenton, took off in a vehicle and a pursuit began heading west out of Kenton on Rt. 309. At the intersection of County Road 106, Davis stopped and fired upon pursuing officers and sheriff’s deputies, Sheriff Keith Everhart told the Columbus Dispatch .

Officer Skyler Newfer was hit in the exchange. Deputy Bryan Bodine, who also was in pursuit, put Newfer in his cruiser and rushed him to Hardin Memorial Hospital, and other law enforcement continued the pursuit.

The suspect stopped and exchanged gunfire with pursuing deputies at least twice during the chase, which lasted three or four miles, Everhart said.

Then, at the intersection of County Road 106 and Township Road 105, Davis crashed his vehicle.

Deputies surrounded the vehicle and found him dead of a gunshot wound.