Howland police shooting: 'It was life or death out there'

February 11, 2017 at 4:06p.m.

HOWLAND

Someone was bound to die Tuesday night in the middle of a busy grocery store parking lot.

Of that, there was no doubt, according to Trumbull County Sheriff Paul Monroe.

“It was life or death out there Tuesday night,” Monroe said. “Those guys had to make a split-second decision. Fortunately, they went home that night.”

Monroe was referring to Howland Township Police Chief Nicholas Roberts and Assistant Chief Jeffrey Urso, who fatally shot 34-year-old Richard N. Latimer during an altercation in the parking lot of the Giant Eagle grocery store on East Market Street late Tuesday night.

The officers’ names had not been made public until Saturday, when Monroe and other township officials had a news conference to update the matter.

Latimer, who had addresses in Howland and Girard, was a wanted man after a shooting earlier Tuesday that resulted in the death of Van Blevins, 44, at Blevins’ home on North Main Street in Mineral Ridge.

Authorities believe Latimer shot Blevins because of a domestic dispute stemming from Latimer’s wife, Candace, communicating with Blevins via social media. Police attempted to arrest Latimer early Tuesday morning because of a separate domestic dispute with his wife, but Latimer escaped on foot and became the subject of a manhunt leading up to his death.

Between the time he ran from police and his being shot in the Giant Eagle parking lot, Latimer reportedly shot and killed Blevins. Candace Latimer was apparently at Blevins’ home at the time and told police she witnessed the shooting. She fled to a nearby Taco Bell, from where she called police.

The sheriff said Roberts and Urso are members of the Trumbull County Homicide Task Force and were assisting in the investigation into Blevins’ shooting, which happened in Weathersfield Township.

Sgt. Jennifer Carr, who has been appointed acting chief of the Howland Township Police Department, said authorities received information late Tuesday that Latimer was headed to the Giant Eagle parking lot to meet someone. She could not say who he was going to meet, or why, referring those questions to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which is handling the official investigation of the shooting.