A woman has died after
being accidentally shot by a law-enforcement officer during a Ross County drug
raid on Wednesday night.
Krystal Barrows, 35, had
been flown to a Columbus-area hospital in critical condition after she was
shot, the Ross County sheriff said.
The Chillicothe Gazette
reported this morning that Barrows has died from a gunshot to the head. The
sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to requests for information this
morning.
Barrows was one of 11
people crowded into a modular home off Rt. 23 in southern Ross County when the
sheriff’s office Emergency Response Team went in about 10:30 p.m., the
sheriff’s office said.
The office wouldn’t give
details yesterday about what happened, other than to acknowledge that a woman
had been shot during the operation. Sheriff George W. Lavender Jr. did not
return numerous calls to discuss the situation.
Prosecutor Matt Schmidt
told local media that the woman was unintentionally shot by a law-enforcement
officer during the raid. Schmidt said it was unclear whether the gunfire
resulted from a weapon malfunction or the officer’s error.
Authorities also wouldn’t
say whether the officer who shot the woman was a Ross County deputy or with
another agency. The sheriff’s office and the U.S. 23 Task Force, which includes
other law-enforcement agencies, had been watching the home for some time.
Large amounts of heroin,
drug instruments, cash and guns were recovered from the scene.
Six people were arrested
during the raid, mostly on outstanding warrants.
The Ohio Bureau of
Criminal Investigation has been called in to review how the search warrant was
executed.