MINSTER — Law enforcement agencies from three counties were involved with negotiations with a man inside a rural minster residence Tuesday afternoon.
“We received a call at 12:30 about a man with a gun who was held up in a house” said Auglaize County Sheriff Al Solomon during a brief afternoon press conference at the barricades blocking traffic from entering Minster at the Shelby-Auglaize County line on state Route 119.
“We have information that he might have some type of explosives,” he said.
The man, said Solomon in a press release later in the evening, was threatening suicide and was in a residence on state Route 119, east of Minster. When deputies arrived on the scene, they learned a juvenile male was also present in the home.
Deputies were able to remove the juvenile to safety and began talking to the male to get him to surrender. The adult male didn’t surrender and the Auglaize County Special Response Team was dispatched along with negotiators.
“We are in negotiations with him. There’s nothing active going on, just negotiations. We are hoping for a satisfying conclusion to this,” Solomon said during the ordeal.
Further information at the scene revealed the possibility of explosive devices in the home. A second Special Response Team was called in from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office along with the bomb squad from the Allen County Sheriff’s Office.
After approximately four hours, the 38-year-old male surrendered. He was taken to the hospital for treatment.
At 6:30 p.m., the Special Response Team members and the Allen County Bomb Squad were still on the scene clearing the house and outbuildings of possible explosives.
Other agencies assisting at the scene were Minster and New Bremen Police, the Minster Area Life Squad and Fire Department, St. Marys Police, The Ohio State Highway Patrol, The Auglaize County Emergency Management Agency, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the Allen County Sheriff’s Office. The West Ohio Regional Homeland Security Emergency Management Lighting and Command responded to the scene as well.
At press time, Solomon said he is not releasing any other details as it is still an active investigation. Deputies were still on the scene Tuesday night.
