A man wanted in Stark County is expected to face more charges after allegedly stealing a police officer's gun and firing it during a chase, according to New Philadelphia Police.
News 5 spoke to one of the detectives who experienced the situation first-hand.
"Nothing truly prepares you for it, especially when you think one of your brothers, one of your sisters, possibly is going to get murdered in front of your face," Detective Ty Norris of New Philadelphia Police said regarding his partner.
Two detectives and a captain were conducting a welfare check in the 1800 block of East High Avenue after a resident walking his dog reported a man lying against a tree in a wooded area. The caller was unsure whether the man was sleeping or unconscious.
When they arrived, the police said they found the man lying on the ground beneath a pine tree. Officers made contact with him and tried to identify him. During the interaction, police said the man provided false identifying information, which led officers to spend about 30 to 35 minutes verifying his identity.
The person was identified as 25-year-old Dillan Riter of Stark County, wanted on two active felony warrants, both with a targeted offender designation, New Philadelphia Police said.
The department said when detectives tried to take the man into custody, he got up and ran on foot eastbound into a different part of the wooded area.
"Once I got into the wooded area and went to get hands-on with [Riter], that's when I saw he had a firearm in his hand and he was raising it up towards the other detective," said Norris. "The look on my detective's face, who was in a life-and-death struggle for his own duty weapon."
Both detectives held the Riter's arms to the ground, but authorities said he was still able to fire a shot.
"At this entire time, I'm looking for an opportunity to engage this subject with deadly force because that's the situation we're in," said Norris. "That opportunity never really presented itself without putting my partner, the other detective, in harm's way."
The struggle continued and the captain was able to get the gun out of Riter's hand without anyone getting hurt.
Chief Tessa Pohovey said the video is tough to watch.
"We're aware of the dangers. I'm just very, very fortunate that we aren't wearing the black bands," said Pohovey.
In the video, Riter said he didn't mean to fire the gun.
"You pulled the trigger," an officer said in the video.
To which Riter said, "I wasn't trying to pull the trigger."
The chief, however, feels Riter wasn't being truthful after what she said he told the officers during the situation.
"He fired it, and you can hear in the video, he said, 'I'm going to keep shooting.' Luckily, the gun malfunctioned after that first round and so it was out of battery," said Pohovey.
According to police, officers were able to regain control of the gun and successfully take Riter into custody.
Norris told News 5 how he felt after the incident.
"Extremely grateful, I'm grateful that we're all uninjured," he said.
Riter was wanted for allegedly robbing two Dollar General stores at gunpoint in Stark County and is facing charges in those cases.
Riter was transported to the Tuscarawas County Jail, where he is being held on charges of attempted murder, felonious assault and theft of a firearm.
The incident remains under active investigation.
