Knox County sheriff identifies woman fatally shot after deputies say she fired shotgun

Cole Behrens, The Columbus Dispatch
·2 min read
On Monday, deputies responded to a residence on Zuck Road in Butler Township around 8:31 p.m. after receiving a call about a woman trying to force her way in, Sheriff David Shaffer said. Butler Township is in eastern Knox County, about 60 miles northeast of Columbus.
On Monday, deputies responded to a residence on Zuck Road in Butler Township around 8:31 p.m. after receiving a call about a woman trying to force her way in, Sheriff David Shaffer said. Butler Township is in eastern Knox County, about 60 miles northeast of Columbus.

The Knox County Sheriff's office has identified the woman shot and killed after deputies said she forced her way inside a house and fired a shotgun at them.

The sheriff's office on Thursday identified the woman as 41-year-old Elizabeth Delano.

On Monday, deputies responded to a residence on Zuck Road in Butler Township around 8:31 p.m. after receiving a call about a woman trying to force her way in, Sheriff David Shaffer said. Butler Township is in eastern Knox County, about 60 miles northeast of Columbus.

Delano had entered the house by the time deputies arrived and refused commands to come outside, according to Shaffer.

At one point, Shaffer said, Delano broke a window, pointed a shotgun in the direction of the deputies and fired multiple times before a deputy "fired a single shot" in return, striking the woman.

Delano was taken to Knox Community Hospital in Mount Vernon, where she died.

A news release said Delano recently lived at the address, but had not lived there for several weeks. According to the Knox County court records, Delano had been foreclosed upon by a mortgage company in late 2021.

The shooting is currently investigated by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

The arm of the Ohio Attorney General's office is also investigating another fatal police shooting from Saturday, during which law enforcement officers shot and killed two brothers following a nine-hour standoff.

Police have said Randy Wilhelm, 56, and Bradley Wilhelm, 53, fired guns at law enforcement vehicles and had planned to detonate a propane tank as a bomb rather than face arrest.

The BCI seized more than 1,000 firearms and 140,000 rounds of ammunition from the property of the two brothers earlier this week.

Neither Shaffer nor BCI has released the names of the officers who filed the fatal shots in either incident.

@Colebehr_report

Cbehrens@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Woman identified in fatal Knox County police shooting