Man dies following standoff with police at Beasley Mill (Updated)

ATHENS, Ohio — A man died Thursday evening following an hours-long standoff with police at Beasley Mill apartment complex on West Union Street. He allegedly shot a woman earlier in the day.

The man has since been identified as Joseph C. Jennings, age 70, of Athens, the Athens Police Department shared in an Aug. 13 press release. There are no other suspects for the incident.

Jennings died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound; no officers discharged their firearms during this encounter, APD said Aug. 13.

“We responded to the shooting, and officers tried to make contact with the resident we believed to be in the apartment,” Magruder said. “We attempted several times to make contact, through negotiations, through drones, through phones, throw phones [specialized phones for negotiating hostage crises], different kinds of communications.”

Officials who responded to the scene included Athens Police Department, Athens County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio University Police Department, Athens Fire Department, Athens County Emergency Medical Services, Athens County Coroner’s Office, Richland Area Fire Department, Columbus Division of Fire, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to an APD press release.

Police first evacuated and later entirely cleared the building “because there was suspicion that there may be some kind of explosives in there, but that was found not to be in there at this time,” Magruder said. 

According to the APD’s Aug. 13 press release, “When officers went to Mr. Jennings’ door, there was a note directed to the Athens City Police advising not to open it due to explosives being behind the door.”

The public’s first alert about the standoff at Beasley Mill came shortly after 2 p.m., with many receiving a text message via an OU emergency alert system. Shortly before 5:30 p.m., police informed the media that the suspect had taken his own life.

“This is one of the first times we’ve [APD] had an individual barricade himself in the house like that,” Magruder said.

Magruder said the woman who the suspect allegedly shot suffered a single gunshot wound and was transported by MedFlight to Columbus “where she’s getting the medical treatment.”

The woman, whose identity has not been released, had reported that she had been “shot by a known person” in the apartment complex, Magruder said.

“She is — was — doing well by the time she left Athens,” Magruder said of the woman.

At about 5:15 p.m., Athens Deputy Service-Safety Director Andrew Chiki told the Independent that while he had not received an update in some time, “the last that I understood was that she was able to talk and communicate throughout the process,” and was taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center.

The Independent has requested 911 calls pertaining to this incident.

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact APD.

Note: This story has been updated since initial publication to include a list of all of the officials who responded to the scene, per an APD press release.

Note: This story has been updated since initial publication to include information from an Aug. 13 APD press release.