One year later: Clark Co. Sheriff recalls shoot-out

CLARK COUNTY, Ohio (WDTN) - The start of 2012 is marred by the memory of New Year's Day 2011 for many folks in the Miami Valley. The holiday brought tears and tragedy after a gunman shot and killed a Clark County deputy and injured a German Township police officer. It happened at Enon Beach. The shooter, Michael Ferryman, a former mental patient.

On the scene was Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly.

"Even in the last month I'm finding out things that happened during that day that I didn't know," Kelly said.

A year later, Sheriff Kelly still wrestles with the question, what if?

"That day will always be defined as one of my most stressful moments of the career certainly and I pray we never have another one," said Kelly.

Sheriff Kelly and his wife just happened to be near Enon Beach when the call came out. Along with then Clark County Sergeant Dusty White, Kelly took command of the volatile situation.

"When this all started, the sergeant didn't know if this was friend or foe. If when he saw the person in the window with the shotgun - was that a resident who had also heard the shot was trying to respond?" said Kelly

Kelly knew many innocent people were in the line of fire for Ferryman.

"I hoped for a peaceful resolution. I was hoping I could negotiate Michael Ferryman to come out," said Kelly.

Ferryman's girlfriend was brought in to calm him down, but Ferryman wouldn't back down.

"He failed to respond. There was no communication except with his shotgun," Kelly said.

All the while, Kelly was also trying to figure out how to position 100 officers in a way that they could rescue Deputy Suzanne Hopper, who was lying near Ferryman's trailer with a gunshot wound.

"We also had our deputy out in the kill zone. We couldn't get to her without risking their lives," said Kelly.

Ultimately, Kelly decided the time had come to stop Ferryman's ambush.

"I gave the order. If you have the shot, take it," said Kelly.

2 News photographer Don Hatcher's extraordinary footage showed the nation and the world what happened next. Kelly, in the line of fire, rescuing German Township officer Jeremy Blum, who was hit by blast from Ferryman's gun.

"Even after being shot multiple times himself, the evidence reveals that he reloaded and was about to take another shot when he was finally stopped," said Kelly.

Kelly and company finally moved in when a camera on a armored vehicle gave them a glimpse inside Ferryman's bullet-riddled trailer.

"Then a group of SWAT officers went up made entry and determined he was down and that he was deceased and we were able then to get another vehicle and make the removal," said Kelly.

When asked what thoughts come to his mind when Kelly drives past Enon Beach today, he said, "This is right off Interstate 70 and anytime I'm on Interstate 70 traveling, at least once a week, I always look to the right and always have thoughts of that day."