ROCKFORD, Ohio - Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey announced the arrest of Thurman Whitted, Jr, 58, of Rockford, after receiving a call of shots fired on Sunday morning.
At 6:31 a.m. the Sheriff’s Office dispatch center received a call of shots fired at 310 N. Franklin St. in Rockford. Deputies and the Rockford Police Chief, Paul May responded to the area to investigate.
The investigation revealed that Whitted and his girlfriend were having a domestic dispute. Whitted then entered the bedroom of the home and fired one round from a handgun. He was alone in the bedroom at the time. The girlfriend and her adult daughter then fled the residence and called the Sheriff’s Office. Whitted reportedly had a .45 caliber handgun and rifles in the residence.
Sheriff’s deputies surrounded the residence and attempted to make contact with Whitted. The victims stated that he had pulled the landline phone out of the wall in the residence, but he did have two cell phones. Several attempts were made to call the cell phones. Whitted did not answer the phones.
Deputies then tried to make contact by the public address system from the cruisers and by operating their sirens and air horns. Whitted did not respond. A family member was contacted and was unable to make contact also.
The Sheriff’s Office then requested assistance from the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office S.W.A.T. team. While the SWAT team was enroute, more attempts to contact Whitted were unsuccessful. Once the SWAT team arrived and was briefed they approached the house to attempt contact. At 11:05 a.m., the family member was finally successful at contacting Whitted. At that point he agreed to surrender and exit the residence.
Whitted exited the residence, but refused to comply with orders to keep his hands up and in view. When Whitted started to put his hands down near his pockets, SWAT team members took him to the ground where he was handcuffed and taken into custody without further incident. Whitted did receive a minor injury to his face when he was taken to the ground. No deputies were injured.
Deputies then applied for and received a search warrant for the residence to look for firearms and other items of evidence.
Formal charges will be filed once the prosecutor’s office has the opportunity to review the case