Key Takeaways
- A homeowner in Bethel Township fired at two masked intruders who broke into their home on October 15.
- The homeowner confronted the suspects and shot at them as they fled in a black four-door sedan.
- Neither suspect sustained injuries, but the homeowner’s actions raise legal questions regarding the use of deadly force.
- Ohio law justifies deadly force only against imminent threats, and shooting at fleeing suspects complicates the situation.
- Detectives continue the investigation and seek public assistance in identifying the suspect vehicle.
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BETHEL TOWNSHIP, OH — A Miami County homeowner fired at two masked men who forced their way into a Scarff Road home Thursday morning, and at their vehicle as they fled, according to the Miami County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office says the two men, both wearing masks, forced entry into the residence in the 7000 block of Scarff Road at 8:47 a.m. on October 15. The homeowner confronted them. The homeowner fired at the men and at their car as they left. The suspects drove off in what was described as a shiny black four-door sedan. A surveillance camera at the home captured them making entry.
The preliminary investigation is that neither suspect was struck by gunfire. An earlier report indicated one of them may have been hit, and the sheriff’s release supersedes that.
Up to a point, this is a scenario any armed homeowner can picture. Two masked men forcing their way into a house with someone inside it is exactly the kind of threat the law of self-defense exists for. Had the release ended with the homeowner confronting them, I would have little to add.
It does not end there. The release says the homeowner discharged a firearm “at them and their vehicle as they fled the scene.”
Deadly force is justified against an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm. That is the standard every concealed carrier lives under, in Ohio and everywhere else. A suspect who is running away is generally no longer that threat. A suspect who has made it into a car and is pulling off is even further removed from it. When the threat turns and leaves, the justification for firing usually leaves with it. The fear that was real thirty seconds earlier does not carry forward to the taillights. There is a practical side as well. Rounds fired at a moving car go somewhere, and the person who fired them owns every one.
I do not know how prosecutors will view this. The sheriff’s release does not characterize the homeowner’s actions one way or the other, and no charging decision has been announced. That call belongs to prosecutors, who will look at the full sequence and not just the moment two masked men came through the door. I am not writing this to pile on a homeowner who had masked intruders in the house at 8:47 in the morning. I am writing it because stories like this one are the daily reminder. The mindset has to be that the gun comes out to stop a threat that is coming at you, and it stops when that threat is driving away.
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Detectives are continuing the investigation and are using Flock license plate reader cameras to try to identify the suspect vehicle. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Bonnie McMaken at 937-440-3987. Anonymous tips can be left through the sheriff’s office website at miamicountyohio.gov/sheriff. Deputies will be increasing patrols in the area, and the sheriff’s office asks that no one approach anyone matching the suspects’ description.
Two masked men forced their way into a house, met an armed homeowner, and ran. The shots that followed them to the car are the part prosecutors will have to weigh, and the part every carrier should file away.
