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State trooper shoots, kills Celina man

Ohio State Highway Patrol information

CELINA — A Celina man was shot and killed when he assaulted an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper in that city early Sunday morning.

Justin D. McHenry, 22, succumbed to injuries received when he accosted a trooper at approximately 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

osplogoAccording to investigators, the unnamed trooper was sitting in his cruiser, which was parked on Main Street, near Livingston Street, in Celina working on paperwork from a previous incident when McHenry parked his 1991 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck across the street and approached the cruiser on foot.

McHenry, who had not had any contact with the trooper before, then ordered the officer out of his vehicle. When the trooper got out of his cruiser, McHenry brandished a 9-mm handgun and pointed it at the trooper.

The trooper then attempted to disarm McHenry, but couldn’t take the handgun from him. He then broke contact and pulled his own handgun. Shots were then fired and McHenry was struck by rounds from the trooper’s handgun.

Once McHenry was secured, the trooper and officers from the Celina Police Department provided first aid to him until an emergency medical squad arrived on the scene. Celina Fire & EMS then took McHenry to Mercer County Community Hospital in Coldwater, and he was later flown by Careflight helicopter to St. Rita’s Medical Center in Lima, where he later died. The trooper was not injured.

Officers from the Patrol and Celina Police Department continue to investigate the incident, with investigators saying they don’t know at this time why McHenry confronted the trooper and pointed a gun at him.

POSTED: 11/30/15 at 9:11 am. FILED UNDER: News