CONGRESS TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The Wayne County Sheriff's Office is investigating after Sheriff Tom Ballinger and a deputy were stabbed on Tuesday morning.
The sheriff's office held a news conference Tuesday afternoon to give an update:
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It happened just before 11 a.m. in the 9000 block of Congress Road in Congress Township.
According to Chief Deputy Joseph Copenhaver, the sheriff and the deputy were responding to a call of a suspicious person walking down Congress Road.
Wayne County investigators say the suspect, Chad Palmer, has been acting suspiciously — even threatening a family earlier this morning. The sheriff and deputy approached the man, but the man grabbed a pocket knife and allegedly slashed the sheriff on one of his arms before stabbing and more seriously injuring the sergeant.
The sheriff was taken to Wooster Community Hospital. He has been released. The deputy, Sgt. Dan Broome, was taken to Summa Health System — Akron Campus. He was released Tuesday afternoon.
"I feel for them," said Brent Jones, a friend of the suspect. "I don't wish upon anybody to be stabbed. It sucks, and I hope they're alright and safe and not badly hurt."
After the attack, the suspect continued walking down Congress Road. Law enforcement from all over the area swarmed in and set a perimeter, searching roads and properties.
"All hands on deck, and we need to make sure, number one, that the bad guy, if you want to call it that, doesn't come back and do nothing to them while they're down," said Captain Paul Brumme of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators say that during the massive search, Palmer went live on Facebook while inside a nearby shed and poured gasoline on himself.
Two hours after the stabbings, negotiators found him and talked him off the roof of the shed. He walked down a ladder, was taken into custody and will face multiple charges.
"All these things combined helped us with that, him being online, seeing the building, hearing things," said Brumme. "It helped us get intelligence on trying to figure out specifically where he was."
