Shooter Dies of Self-Inflicted Wound

On Monday, March 31, 2025, Hancock County 911 received a call from a female who stated her grandfather had just chased her grandmother into their house and that he was shooting at her.
She told the 911 operator that her grandmother collapsed after making it into the house and that she was still unresponsive. She said there were three women in the house and that they had blocked all the doors to keep her grandfather from coming inside.
Hancock County Sheriff’s Office responded to the initial call along with assistance from the New Cumberland Police Department and West Virginia State Police. The Sheriff’s Office and the New Cumberland Police Department were the first to arrive on scene. They were joined by an additional Deputy and State Police. Upon their arrival, the Deputies drove their police cruisers to the front of the house where the women had taken
shelter. At that time, the suspect’s location was unknown.
The Deputies and the other officers provided security while a deputy went inside to escort the women out of the home. Two of the women were able to follow the deputy out. The third woman was found unresponsive and had to be carried out by the deputy. The women were placed in a police cruiser and driven to a safe location where EMS was waiting to care for the unresponsive female.
Once the women were out of harm’s way, deputies began their search for the suspect. The suspect’s last known location was in a large, wooded area in which there were two vacant mobile homes as well as several other structures. Due to the size and complexity of the search area, additional resources, including a drone, a K9 officer and the Special Response Team, were called in to assist with the search.
The search concluded when the armed suspect was found approximately 150 yards behind the home in a wooded area. When found, the suspect was deceased and had suffered an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. A semi-automatic 9mm handgun, matching a description of the firearm that was given by the victim, was found with the suspect.
The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the New Cumberland Police Department and the West Virginia State Police for their assistance during this incident. Also the assistance from the Chester Police Department and Weirton Police Department for answering the call.