Staff report
gogle@wbcowqel.com
A lone gunman who told police he had a message he wanted to deliver killed a female employee at the Willard Family Dollar and then fatally shot himself.
According to Willard Police Chief Mark Holden sometime around 5 p.m. Wednesday 19-year-old Shawn Schuett entered the Family Dollar on West Walton Street with a rifle and held two employees hostage. Schuett, who had lived outside of Willard on Egypt Road for about a year, was originally from Richland County.
Schuett first forced a woman at gunpoint to drive him to the store and then released her. Another report indicated there may have been a fourth hostage held, a Tiffin woman who was a customer at the store and was released unharmed.
Schuett barricaded the entries to the store and after about a three-hour standoff involving several area law enforcement agencies and a SWAT team, one of the employees being held hostage ran out of the store claiming Schuett had shot the other employee.
Police immediately gained entry to the store by breaking out windows and found the employee seriously injured and Schuett dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The wounded hostage was first taken by ambulance to Willard Mercy Hospital and then flown by medical helicopter to another medical facility where she died.
The identities of the hostages have not been released.
UPDATE: Buckeye Central Superintendent Tara Meyerink released a statement early Thursday afternoon regarding the impact the hostage situation had on the school district.
“Last evening’s Willard hostage/suicide tragedy directly impacted our Buckeye Central community,” wrote Meyerink. “The deceased Family Dollar employee is the parent of one of our middle school students. The Crawford County Trauma Debriefing Team has been activated and in our schools for our students and staff. On behalf of our Board of Education, I offer our sincerest condolences to the family.”
Editor’s note:
The founding premise of Crawford County Now was a unique news Web site devoted solely about Crawford County. We have tried to remain true to that premise with stories that focus on the county and its residents, and in some cases informing residents of what state officials answerable to the Crawford County electorate are doing or their positions on issues. We have also posted stories here pertaining to larger issues that have a direct impact on Crawford County residents, such as those about fracking, adoption or agricultural related news as examples.
Occasionally there is a story that does not involve Crawford County or a Crawford County resident, but is still of immense interest to people here. We feel that is the situation with Wednesday’s horrific incident in Willard.