Police Shooting Makes Middlefield Man Feel Less Safe
Middlefield resident David Roose was on the front porch of his home at 15093 South State Avenue Sunday evening when he saw a…
Middlefield resident David Roose was on the front porch of his home at 15093 South State Avenue Sunday evening when he saw a Middlefield Village police cruiser with two officers in it drive by on what appeared to be a routine patrol.
“Just a few minutes later, I heard the shooting and I knew from the sound, those were powerful guns they had,” he recalled Monday afternoon.
What Roose heard, but didn’t see, was a traffic stop by the police officer and the officer he was training followed by James Gilkerson, 42, pulling out an SKS semi-automatic rifle and riddling the cruiser with bullets.
The officers, already injured, returned fire, killing Gilkerson on North State Avenue almost in front of the Middlefield Police Department.
“I saw one sheriff fly by, then I heard on my police scanner ‘Shots fired, officer down,'” Roose recalled.
The female officer in training, Erin Thomas, had been shot in the left hand and her leg and the male officer, Brandon Savage, received injuries from flying pieces of metal and glass, said Geauga County Sheriff Dan McClelland several hours later during a media conference.
Roose jumped in his car and headed north, stopping in a bank parking lot and arriving on scene just after Gilkerson’s body had been covered with a sheet.
He watched as back-up police from Bainbridge and Russell townships roared in with lights flashing to lend their support.
“Cops kept coming from all over the place for quite some time,” Roose said. “They’ve gotta be thankful for the back-up when they need it.”
He watched as McClelland announced Middlefield’s mayor and police chief had asked the sheriff’s office to take over the investigation, then saw the K-9 unit arrive and enter the crime scene while he visited with neighbors.
“Everybody heard the gun shots and knew something just wasn’t right,” Roose said. “It wasn’t a normal sound. People were scared, not sure what was going on.”
Even people who live in the village have heard the sound of rifles shot during hunting season, but this rapid-fire pop-pop-pop-pop was frighteningly unfamiliar, he said.
“The shooting is a real shock to this town. Everybody is in a state of shock,” Roose said. “It’s ironic that this happened about one year from the Chardon (High School) shootings.”
He recalled that a Chardon police officer shot and killed a man in self defense a few weeks later.
“In a matter of two years, things have changed drastically out here,” he said.
Roose is no stranger to gun violence.
His son was nearly killed in 1997 when shot and his nephew was shot three or four years ago by a man with a rifle.
Roose brought his family to Middlefield to escape from the Cleveland area where that kind of activity is more common.
“I’ve dealt with a lot of shooting. It brings back memories,” he said.
Sunday’s events have left him with a heightened sense of his surroundings.
“I feel a little less safe,” Roose said.
