SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine ordered all U.S. and Ohio flags on public grounds to be flown at half-staff in honor of a Clark County sheriff’s deputy who died Sunday during a standoff.
Police confirmed Matthew Yates, a 15-year veteran of the sheriff’s department, died after responding to a call Sunday morning with other deputies to Harmony Estates Mobile Home Park.
During a press conference Sunday, Sheriff Deborah Burchett said they received a call before 11 a.m. about an unknown female breaking into a residence at the park in the 1100 block of Ashwood Drive, and fired up to six shots.
Burchett said when they arrived at the scene, deputies, including Yates, went to check the residence and were shot at. Yates was hit, and Burchett said they called in tactical teams to rescue him, but they couldn’t for hours due to a standoff.
Once they were able to get Yates out of of the residence, the mobile home caught fire and was destroyed, but the department didn’t release details as to how it caught fire.
“Please keep the Yates family in your thoughts and prayers, and please keep my sheriff’s office in your thoughts and prayers,” Burchett said.
Officials sent Yates to Miami Valley Hospital around 2:30 p.m., where he succumbed to his injuries. Nearly an hour before Yates got to the hospital, another deputy left the scene after injuring his leg. Officials said he wasn’t shot, but was trying to avoid gunfire from the mobile home.
The sheriff’s office hasn’t released additional details. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is handling the case. Multiple law enforcement agencies assisted during the incident, including Springfield police, Dayton SWAT, the Dayton bomb squad, other county police departments and the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s special unit, according to the sheriff’s office.
Flags will be flown at half-staff until sunset on the day of Yates’ internment.
