Rockford man arrested after shots fired

Mercer County Sheriff news

ROCKFORD —  Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey announced the arrest of Thurman Whitted Jr, 58, of Rockford, after receiving a call of shots fired Saturday morning.  Whitted is being held in the Mercer County Adult Detention Facility awaiting formal charges.

At 6:31 a.m. Saturday, the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office dispatch center received a call of shots fired at 310 N. Franklin St. in Rockford.  Deputies and Rockford Police Chief Paul May responded to the area to investigate.

The investigation revealed that Whitted and his girlfriend were having a domestic dispute, and Whitted then entered the bedroom of the home and fired one round from a handgun.  He was alone in the bedroom at the time.  The girlfriend and her adult daughter then fled the residence and called the Sheriff’s Office.  Whitted reportedly had a .45 caliber handgun and rifles in the residence.

Sheriff’s deputies surrounded the residence and attempted to make contact with Whitted.  The victims stated that he had pulled the landline phone out of the wall in the residence, but he did have two cell phones.  Several attempts were made to call the cell phones, but Whitted did not answer.

Deputies then tried to make contact via a public address system in a cruiser, and by operating their sirens and air horns, but Whitted still did not respond.  A family member was then contacted and was also unable to make contact.

The Sheriff’s Office then requested assistance from the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team.  While the SWAT team was en route, more attempts to contact Whitted were unsuccessful.  Once the SWAT team arrived and was briefed, SWAT team members then approached the house to attempt contact.  Finally, at 11:05 a.m., the family member was successful at contacting Whitted, and, at that point, he agreed to surrender and exit the residence.

Whitted then came out of the residence, but refused to comply with orders to keep his hands up and in view.  When Whitted started to put his hands down near his pockets, SWAT team members took him to the ground, where he was handcuffed and taken into custody without further incident.  Whitted did receive a minor injury to his face when he was taken to the ground. No deputies were injured.

Deputies then applied for, and received, a search warrant for the residence to look for firearms and other items of evidence.

Formal charges will be filed once the prosecutor’s office has the opportunity to review the case.