BELLEVUE, Ohio — Just after 6 p.m. on Saturday, Seneca County Sheriff's deputies responded to a call from the 3000 block of N. County Road 27 in Bellevue that 36-year-old Ray Arley Freeze, III was having an altercation with his dad and five other family members, including two small children.
Police say family members had left the residence and locked themselves in a pole barn on the property.
Deputies arrived and spoke with the family and went to speak with Freeze, who was still in the house.
The sheriff's office says when deputies announced themselves in the doorway of the home Freeze raised an AR-15 and started shooting at them through the walls and door as the deputies dove for cover. One of the two deputies was able to return fire. The deputies were then able to get out of the house and found the closest cover they could find but were unable to get to safety.
As other units arrived, they were able to set up a perimeter, contain Freeze inside the residence and wait for an armored vehicle from the Wood County Sheriff’s Office to arrive to assist in getting the family members and two deputies. While that was going on, neighbors to the north and south of the residence were evacuated.
During this time, several shots were fired from the house through an upstairs window towards the two deputies that were still pinned down.
Once the armored vehicle arrived, the family members and two deputies were able to be extricated safely. A crisis negotiator attempted to get Freeze to answer his cell phone for almost an hour but was unable to make contact.
At that point tear gas was deployed in the upstairs over a 20-minute period.
After another series of attempts to contact Freeze, he came out of the residence and came marching towards the armored vehicle and Special Response Team and did not listen to the requests of the arrest team. He was tasered and taken into custody without injury at 11:45 p.m.
The initial charge will be attempted murder, with other charges pending the outcome of the investigation.