Lebanon Police Chief Jeff Mitchell said Kellum has a history of contacts with Lebanon police and that one of the residents had a protection order against him.
Police received a 911 call reporting that a known man was outside a house in the 400 block of East Mulberry Street and was threatening to shoot the occupants inside, Mitchell said. Police and Warren County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the house, where they found Kellum with a handgun and a shotgun.
Mitchell said during attempts to deescalate the situation, Kellum fired one shot from his handgun into the ground and then began to raise his shotgun in the direction of the officers. An officer and a sheriff’s deputy each fired their weapon toward Kellum. He said Kellum went to the ground and then with his own handgun shot himself in the head, the chief said.
Lebanon Division of Fire and EMS were staged nearby and responded immediately to begin life-saving efforts. Kellum was taken to Atrium Medical Center in Middletown and later to Miami Valley Hospital.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation responded for crime scene processing and also is investigating the officer-involved shooting.
Mitchell said the Lebanon officer is on paid administrative leave during the investigation, which is customary in officer-involved shootings.
“From our perspective, it appears the officer did what he was supposed to do,” Mitchell said, without identifying the officer.
Warren County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Barry Riley also declined to identify the deputy involved, who also is on paid administrative leave. “We will be working with him to get him back to duty as soon as possible when he’s ready,” Riley said.
“I’m proud of both these individuals for doing what they did,” Riley said, adding that he believed they “handled the incident appropriately.”
BCI officials had not released a report on the shooting as of Monday afternoon.
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