Man shot, killed in home by Sandusky County sheriff's deputies

Bryan Jones was shot and killed by Sandusky County sheriff's deputies Sunday.

The Blade/Jeremy Wadsworth
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FREMONT - Just hours before he was fatally shot by Sandusky County Sheriff's deputies, Bryan P. Jones had threatened to kill his mother and himself.

In a 911 call placed to the sheriff's office about 9:45 p.m. Sunday, Jones' father, Tracy, said his son had been drinking for two days and had loaded guns in the Tiffin Road house he shared with his parents just south of Fremont.

"He threatened to kill my wife," Tracy Jones told the dispatcher. "He's got loaded guns. He's acting crazier than heck. He's at that house by himself. I want him out of there."

Monday morning, as Mr. Jones scanned the family's bloodstained living room, he said that - had he known his son would end up dead - he wouldn't have called 911.

Bryan Jones was shot and killed by Sandusky County sheriff's deputies Sunday.

"They wouldn't even let me in to talk to him, and I'm his dad," Mr. Jones said. "I never would have called the cops if I'd known they were going to shoot him."

LISTEN: 911 Call

Bryan Jones, 26, was pronounced dead at the scene by Sandusky County Coroner John Wukie shortly after the shots were fired about 11:30 p.m.

Sheriff Kyle Overmyer said there was no evidence to indicate Jones had fired the shotgun he was holding but said he pointed the weapon at deputies after they detonated a "flash bang" distraction device and entered the house.

"We feel we did what we had to," the sheriff said. "It's very unfortunate for it to result in a death. We took action which we felt was appropriate at the time to try to defuse the situation."

Kimberly Jones, Bryan Jones' mother, places flowes and a plaque at a memorial for her son.

The sheriff said he placed the two deputies who fired their weapons on paid administrative leave, which is required by office procedure. He declined to release their names Monday.

Investigators with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation were called in to process the scene - a job they appeared to have finished by

10:15 a.m. yesterday when a deputy took Mr. Jones into the house.

A distraught Kimberly Jones placed flowers and a stone plaque by a tree in the front yard in tribute to her son. Once deputies removed the yellow police tape surrounding the house, other family members pulled a camouflage fishing boat up to the makeshift memorial.

"He never would hurt anybody," Mrs. Jones said. "He loved to hunt and fish and camp. He was an outdoors person. He just would get drunk and spout off at the mouth. That's all. He never hurt us."

Mrs. Jones said her son had struggled with depression and anxiety over being unemployed and unable to see his 6-year-old son, Nathaniel. Alcohol fueled his depression, she said.

"We called to get help," Mrs. Jones said.

"We wanted him to go into detox or something like that. That's what we called for - help. And now they murdered my son. You don't shoot somebody sleeping six times. It's just wrong."

Sheriff Overmyer said he did not know how many shots were fired or whether the shotgun Bryan Jones had was loaded. He said deputies had seen "body movement" as Jones sat on the couch prior to the tactical response team's entry.

"He had a shotgun across his lap," Chief Deputy Bruce Hirt said. "He pointed it at officers, and they responded accordingly."

Family members who were outside the house during the incident said Bryan Jones was passed out on the couch, with one of his father's guns over his chest.

Sherry Keller, Bryan Jones' aunt, said the distraction device thrown into the house was so loud it shook the ground outside.

"He jumped up and they shot one shot," she said. "He said, 'Why?' and boom, boom, boom. They were shooting at the end of 'why.'•"

Mrs. Jones had called 911 earlier in the day because her son had been drinking and wanted to take the boat and go fishing. A deputy came out and talked with him about 1:30 p.m., she said, but did not arrest him.

"He went to his friend's house. The police did not arrest him, and you could tell right then and there Bryan is not a violent person," she said.

Chief Deputy Hirt said the deputy who responded to the house Sunday afternoon said Jones had not broken any law, was coherent, and was not a problem so he had no reason to remove him at that time.

The 911 call placed by Tracy Jones Sunday night described a much different situation. He said he didn't know what his son was planning to do. "My son came in and I was just going to let him go to sleep or whatever," Mr. Jones told the dispatcher. "I was going to talk to him in the morning. I was tired of his crap and then he goes, 'Your old lady. She's dead.' I'm not taking that from him. … I want him gone."

Court records show Bryan Jones was convicted in 2002 of attempted improper discharge of a firearm into a habitation and a firearms specification. In 2006, he was ordered to have no contact with a former girlfriend, their son Nathaniel, and another child until June, 2011, according to a civil protection order approved by the court.

The Lucas County Coroner's Office was expected to conduct an autopsy today.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at:

jfeehan@theblade.com

or 419-724-6129.