Deputies: Clark County homeowner had been scam target before he shot woman trying to get money
Mar. 27—Investigators detailed events between an 86-year-old Madison Twp. man and a Franklin County woman he shot and killed at his house after he had been targeted in a scam, according to the Clark County Sheriff's Office.
The shooting happened at 11:18 a.m. Monday in the 7000 block of South Charleston-Clifton Road.
Lt. Kristopher Shultz said preliminary investigation revealed the resident had been contacted by telephone by strangers. They told the 86-year-old a relative of his was incarcerated in the Clark County Jail and "a significant amount of money, in cash, was necessary to post bail for this relative," Shultz said.
The caller provided pertinent information for the case and the posting of bail, "all of which was bogus information," the lieutenant said.
The caller and the resident, whose identity has not been released, spoke multiple times regarding the situation, Shultz said, "with the resident being hesitant and resistant to complying with the instructions of the caller."
The investigators said the caller threatened violence toward the 86-year-old man and members of his family.
When the woman went to the man's house, the resident produced a pistol and shot the woman multiple times.
"The resident then retreated to the interior of his home, secured his firearm, and made contact with the (911) Communication Center," Shultz said.
Deputies responded as did fire and EMS units from Madison Twp. and Cedarville.
They found the 86-year-old with lacerations to the head and an ear, bleeding profusely. He was transported by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment and later released.
The Franklin County woman was on the ground about 20 feet from her vehicle. After treatment at the scene, she was flown to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, where she died while in surgery. Her identity has been withheld pending notification of family.
Shulz said significant evidence has been seized and collected by detectives, with search warrants in process to continue the investigation.
"It was reported that there was an assault on the homeowner here at the residence, it was an elderly male, and that he used a firearm to defend himself in the course of that assault," Shultz said at the scene Monday.
The incident prompted a message from the Clark County Sheriff's Office to remind residents, especially older citizens, that no law enforcement agency or court will make contact with anyone to solicit cash for bail or other official functions.
"We encourage all citizens to use extreme caution when being contacted unexpectedly by subjects claiming to be relatives incarcerated in a correctional facility, or claiming to have direct knowledge of relatives incarcerated in a correctional facility," the sheriff's release said.
