iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A police chief who had been on the job for just a few weeks and two nursing home employees are dead after a shooting this morning in Kirkersville, Ohio, officials said.
The gunman is also believed to be dead, Licking County Sheriff Randy Thorp said at a news conference.
Kirkersville police Chief Steven Eric Disario, 36, died after responding to a call regarding a man with a gun, Thorp said. Deputies came for back up and found him outside the Pine Kirk Care Center nursing home, Thorp said.
Authorities learned that a shooter was in the nursing home and went in, where they found three people dead, two employees and an individual believed to be the gunman, Thorp said.
The 23 residents of the nursing home were removed, Thorp said.
Disario had been the police chief for about three weeks, Thorp said. He is a father of six with another child on the way, Thorp said.
The motive is unknown, Thorp said.
Kirkersville, about 24 miles east of Columbus, is a small village with a population estimated to be under 600 in 2015. Police are not always on duty, Thorp said.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich said in a statement, “Ohio mourns the loss of Kirkersville Chief Eric Disario, who died in the line of duty. Join me in praying for his family, friends and colleagues, and for the others injured in this tragedy.”
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