Scioto County Manhunt for Armed Suspect Involves Multiple Agencies
Scioto County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call on 3rd Street in West Portsmouth shortly before 1 pm on Wednesday. It was reported that a man broke several items in a house, threatened to shoot police, and fled on foot.
The deputies were told by witnesses that the suspect ran through their yard and they heard a gunshot.
A report from the police stated that the suspect had told the victim he was “coming for her” and that she was a child molester.
In addition to two deputies dispatched from Scioto County, the Ohio State Highway Patrol was also dispatched to help locate the man along Galena Pike.
The armed suspect was described as wearing khaki shorts with no shirt, bald-headed with multiple tattoos, and wearing a polka-dotted backpack.
It was determined, following a lengthy search along the towpath, that the man was on the twin bridges en route to Portsmouth.
It was then reported that the man was in Scioto River waters after jumping from the twin bridges entering Portsmouth.
As a water rescue team was assembling, they discovered that he had actually jumped onto the levee and ran down to the river.
During this time, PPD was altered and joined the search effort.
Multiple fronts were covered by officers, including the area behind Bob and Floyd’s Tires, the levee behind Buffalo Wild Wings, as well as several units that went down Bertha Avenue to gain access to the farmland along the river.
As a result, King’s Daughters Hospital was placed on lockdown for a short period of time.
It was reiterated to the search party that the suspect was armed with a semiautomatic handgun, that he had already shot at people, and that he had torn up a house.
Both the Portsmouth Fire Department and the Scioto County Sheriff’s Department began to prepare their drones for use in the search that now involved more than a dozen officers. An ATV was also mobilized.
As a precaution, they announced their location very carefully in order to avoid accidental shootings.
The suspect was then identified as Johnathan Mosley. Two different agencies announced this identification.
*At this time, the Sheriff’s Office has not issued an official statement. Therefore, we are relying on the identification that was provided by the two agencies. It may be necessary to update this information when an official announcement is made.
Finally, a few minutes past 4 pm an eager announcement was made that “we’ve got him right here.”
Multiple agencies were involved, so finding the suspect and arresting officers took several minutes due to their difficult location.
Unit 219 of the Portsmouth Police Department took control of the communications. She had gone down to the “bottoms” along with members of the probation department. She informed the other responding officers of their location near the bridge. She advised that there would be a distance of approximately 1.5 miles from the Bertha Ave entrance.
It was confirmed that the suspect was still in possession of his firearm.
After a three-hour search, the suspect was apprehended, and no injuries were reported to either the suspect or the officers responding to the call. Kings Daughters was notified that the suspect was in custody and the lockdown could be lifted.
Unit 219 along with a detective on the scene turned the suspect over to the Sheriff’s Department for processing.
PPD Unit 175 told all units and detectives “Excellent job” as they began to regroup and prepare for more calls.
SCDN will continue to follow this story and will update as soon as an official statement from one of the agencies involved is released.
