DELAWARE – A Delaware County man died Wednesday after being shot by deputies responding to a call that he was armed, making threats and acting erratically.
READ MORE: In The Columbus Dispatch
The incident was described in a recording of a 911 call from the man’s wife that lasted nearly a half-hour as she expressed fear of being killed, urged a dispatcher and officers not to shoot her husband or her dogs, and then screamed and sobbed inconsolably after the man was hit.
UPDATE June 8, 2018 7:20 a.m.: The deputies involved in the incident were Patrol Sergeant Robert Spring, a 24-year veteran; Deputy Troy Gibson, an 18-year veteran, and Deputy Zachary Swick, who has served for over two years as a corrections officer and deputy, according to the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office.
Brian Puskas, 47, died at OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital in Delaware, where he was transported with life-threatening injuries just before 11:30 a.m.
Deputies were called Puskas’ home in the 11000 block of Kilbourne Road, north of Sunbury in Kingston Township at 11:15 a.m., after a woman called 911 to report her that husband was threatening her.
“She said her husband came home early from work early and was acting extremely erratic,” said Tracy Whited, spokeswoman for the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office.
The distraught woman ran to a neighbor’s house to contact law enforcement, telling them her husband had thrown their property out on the front lawn.
The deputies negotiated with Puskas for several minutes in the front yard but were unable to get him to comply and shot him, Sheriff Russell Martin said.
The deputies administered first aid and called for medical assistance but Puskas died later, Martin said.
Puskas’ wife also said he was taking medication for high blood pressure and depression, but had no history of the behavior he displayed Wednesday.
The deputies involved have been placed on paid administrative leave during an investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, which is the policy in his department, Martin said.