Two people are dead from an apparent murder-suicide after a domestic violence call in Knox County led to an exchange of gunfire between the suspect and a sheriff’s deputy and a four-hour standoff.
According to a news release, Knox County Sheriff’s deputies responded at 1:21 a.m. June 5 to an “open 911 call” at a manufactured home at 10180 Busenburg Road in Butler Township, located less than a mile southeast of Zuck and less than four miles southeast of Millwood.
Responding deputies spoke with Lauretta Beltz-Frazee, 68, who told them that Lloyd J. Ray, 63, had injured her in a domestic incident, the release said.
The situation escalated quickly, according to the release, and Ray and a sheriff’s deputy exchanged gunfire. Ray, whom records show owns the property, then released an unknown chemical, leading deputies to evacuate the immediate area of the residence, the release states.
Ray later fired at deputies and their cruisers, the release states, leading to a standoff that lasted until 5:30 a.m. when a tactical team entered the residence. Inside, they found Beltz-Frazee and Ray dead, according to the release.
Deputies safely removed two other occupants from the residence, the release states, but does not identify them, their ages, or their relationship to the deceased.
The identity of the sheriff’s deputy who initially exchanged gunfire with Ray was not included in the release.
Tactical units from the Knox County Sheriff’s office and the Mount Vernon Police Department were at the scene along with support from the Fredericktown Police Department, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and a patrol aviation unit helicopter.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation was asked to investigate the officer-involved shooting and was processing the scene, the release states. No further details were immediately available, the release states.
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Domestic violence call in Knox County results in gunfire exchange and murder-suicide
Reporting by Shahid Meighan, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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