RITTMAN, Ohio — Michelle Ries was at her Wayne County home on the night of July 5 when her youngest daughter alerted her to social media chatter about a concerning situation developing in Rittman.
People were commenting on a heavy police presence, gunfire and injuries around a home on Chippewa Trail.
Knowing that her husband, Rittman Sgt. Scott Ries, was on duty, Michelle tried to reach his cell phone, as she had done during some of his other shifts to check on his safety.
"This time, there was silence," Michelle said. "I already had that feeling that something was different, something was not right."
Sgt. Ries, 54, had been fatally wounded. Michelle said her husband had recently started talking about retirement plans, but nothing was finalized.
"Time that you had foreseen is now forever changed. That journey is forever changed," Michelle said.
Sgt. Ries responded to a call of a break-in to a home, where, according to investigators, Christine McWilliams and her 13-year-old daughter, McKinley, were shot and killed by Christine's ex-boyfriend, Brandon Fazekas.
The investigation revealed Fazekas also shot Sgt. Ries. In addition, four officers with the Medina County SWAT Team, along with a K9, were shot and injured.
Sgt. Ries was taken to Summa Akron City Hospital, where Michelle worked for several years as an emergency room nurse.
She had experience delivering difficult news to people when their loved one passed away, so the reality of losing her husband of 29 years became apparent by the direction she was led in the hospital.
"Instead of turning left, we went straight and I knew exactly what happened before a word was said," she recalled. "It just didn't seem real at the time. It was very difficult. It just felt unreal."
Michelle and Scott met at Hocking College, where she was a nursing student and he was pursuing a career in law enforcement.
She remembers being drawn to his quiet, but big presence that "filled the room."
They married in 1997 and have two daughters— Abby, who is now 23 and engaged, and 18-year-old Maddie, who recently graduated from high school.
The veteran officer served with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office from 1996 to 2015 before joining the Rittman Police Department.
Michelle fought through tears as she talked about her desire to find additional ways to honor Scott while also backing ideas to help support his fellow brothers and sisters in blue.
"There's a lot going on out there, and I don't know that we always see it directly until there's a tragedy," she said. "I want to help make his brothers safer. I certainly want to support that."
Michelle said Scott always "lived in the moment", whether he was hunting or fishing, proudly working alongside officers, coaching middle school football, or spending time with his daughters — the center of his world— during their cheerleading events and softball games.
"He was very proud, always proud of everything they did," Michelle added.
His commitment to helping people as a police officer was also very clear.
"It was his passion to be in law enforcement to make sure that people were taken care of," Michelle said.
Michelle expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support she has received from the Wayne County community and beyond since the tragedy.
She was touched by the large amount of people who lined the processional route for the officer's funeral services last Friday and by the multiple benefits to support the families.
This week, food truck owners joined forces and raised thousands of dollars for the families during a seven-hour event at Fritz Memorial Park.
"I say it's overwhelming, but it's positively overwhelming. It's very heartwarming, incredible — from every card, every text. I don't know if I'll be able to sum up how grateful we are," she said.
Michelle said she understood the dangers of Scott's job but doesn't believe anyone is truly prepared that "it could happen to you."
"You could easily just one day have them not come home from their shift," she said. "It just doesn't seem real."
