Multiple units, including the Brown County SWAT Team, responded to a scene in Georgetown on Saturday morning Nov. 5 after receiving an emergency call about a man with a gun who was suffering an emotional breakdown and had locked himself in a room after threatening to harm himself. Photo by Wade Linville
The Brown County SWAT Team was called to a home on West Third Street in Georgetown in response to a man with a gun who had locked himself in a room and threatened to harm himself and his daughter on the morning of Saturday, Nov. 5, according to a report from the Georgetown Police Department.
The incident ended with Lester Ealy, 61, of Georgetown, being found dead with a gunshot wound to the head, ruled a suicide by the Brown County Coroner, according to the incident report provided by the Georgetown Police Department.
A family member of Ealy’s told Georgetown Police Officer Chase Pendleton, the first officer to respond to the scene, that Lester Ealy was a U.S. Military veteran who for the past eight years has suffered from agonizing back pain he claimed was caused from jumping out of airplanes during his service in the military, according to the Georgetown Police Department’s incident report.
It was at 10:07 a.m. on Saturday morning when Officer Pendleton was dispatched to Ealy’s home on West Third Street in reference to a male having an emotional/mental breakdown with a gun in his possession.
The caller advised dispatch that the male, Lester Ealy, had locked himself in the back room and threatened to harm himself and his daughter. The caller also stated that Lester Ealy had a .45 caliber handgun that was in his hand when he locked himself in the room. Furthermore, the caller advised that there were other guns in the home.
When called to the scene, Officer Pendleton contacted another officer who was on duty and requested they cancel their current traffic stop and head to the scene on West Third Street to assist.
Officer Pendleton arrived on the scene around 10:10 a.m. and saw the caller, Shannan Ealy, standing outside the home on the phone.
When Officer Pendleton approached Shannan Ealy, he was advised that there were others in the house with Lester Ealy, her daughter and grandson, according to the Georgetown Police Department’s incident report.
Officer Pendleton then advised everyone to get out of the house, and questioned them on the location of Lester Ealy.
He was advised that Lester Ealy was in the north western part of the house in the back room.
A VA officer then arrived on scene as well as a unit from the Georgetown Police Department.
Family members were evacuated to South Main Street in Georgetown. As other members of law enforcement arrived to the scene, emergency vehicles were used to block the streets from South Pleasant Street to South Main Street.
With the family evacuated and officers set up to watch the corners of the house, Officer Pendleton then called in the Brown County SWAT Team.
With family members safely seated in a police cruiser, officers began to knock on the doors of neighbors and evacuate the surrounding people in the area, according to the incident report.
Georgetown Police Chief Robert Freeland was contacted by dispatch regarding the incident taking place, and with the streets locked down Officer Pendleton took some time to speak with Shannan Ealy about Lester Ealy’s situation.
It was then that she explained to Officer Pendleton that Lester Ealy had been suffering from agonizing back pain for the past eight years and he had recently started making subtle threats about ending his life.
On the day of the incident, Lester Ealy was said to have been in a verbal disagreement with family members which led to him picking up his .45 caliber handgun and demanding his phone and pain pills.
He then told a family member he intended to harm himself, pointed the gun in the air, and told everyone to get out just before locking himself in a room, according to the incident report.
Officers on scene were advised that Lester Ealy had no cell phone or other way for officers to communicate with him while be had locked himself inside the house.
Officers were then given a crude map of the house that pointed out all rooms, windows and exits.
It was around 10:18 a.m. when a few of the members of law enforcement on the scene heard a faint “pop” or “bang” from the area of the house where Lester Ealy was said to have been locked in a room, but they could not confirm it was a gunshot.
SWAT negotiators then arrived on the scene and began to try and communicate with Lester Ealy through a loud speaker.
After getting no reponse and no motion being detected in the house, the SWAT Team made entry to the house at 11:34 a.m. to find Lester Ealy deceased on a recliner with a pistol in his right hand, according to the incident report. SWAT medic confirmed the death at 11:40 a.m.
Once SWAT cleared from the home, Officer Pendleton and the coroner made entrance to the home to conduct an investigation. The coroner ruled the death a suicide.
Around the clock confidential crisis support for veterans and their loved ones is available on the Veterans Crisis Line by dialing 988 and then pressing 1, or text to 838255. Online chat is also available.
To find more information on sources to assist veterans in crisis, visit the Veterans Crisis Line website at https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/.
For emergency situations in which a person is thinking about hurting or killing themselves, talking about suicide, making threats with weapons, or displaying signs of self-destructive behavior, call 911.
The Georgetown Police Department thanked the following agencies for their assistance in Saturday’s incident: The Brown County Communications Center, the Brown County SWAT Team, the Mt. Orab Police Department, the Brown County Sheriff’s Office, the Veterans Home Police, and Georgetown EMS.