Marcum had just begun his fifth year on the force and Isaac Hollowell was on his first day as chief the afternoon Rees and Geis responded to a domestic violence call on Heard Avenue.
News reports said that Taylor Henry, 42, had thrown the clothes of a cousin visiting from Washington, D.C., out of house and was enraged when he returned from work to find his 37-year-old wife had brought them back in.
She fled the house when he grabbed his .12-gague shotgun and threatened her, shooting it in her direction as she headed to a neighbor’s home.
“My God, he’s trying to kill me,” she screamed as she fled the house shortly after 3 p.m., a news report said.
Later, one of Mr. Henry’s friends said of the shooter, “I think he’d had a little ‘juice,’ but he wasn’t drunk.”
Working plain clothes that day, Sgt. Ralph Jordan arrived at the home, saw Mr. Taylor walking down the street with a shotgun, drew his pistol and said ‘Drop the shotgun, or I’ll shoot,’ ” the reports said.
Taylor did as he was told, said Jordon, who added, “I didn’t realize anyone had been shot.”
Reese was found in the weeds behind the home, bleeding from the face, neck and an arm. Geis was shot at closer range as he came around the corner of the house. The spray penetrated his knees, thighs and part of the abdomen and groin.
“To ease breathing, doctors were forced to perform a tracheotomy shortly after Reese was brought into the emergency room,” the Daily News reported.
Others “attempted to remove the uncounted pellets” from Geis’ legs.
Both survived the shooting.
“Roger (Reese) died a few years ago. He was my hero,” Marcum said. “He was one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met in my life.”
“And Carl was a strong-minded individual. For them to get shot, you said, ‘Lord, the rest of us are in trouble.’ ”
What happened that day — and the possibility that it might happen to him some day — was something a young officer Roger Marcum never forgot.
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0368 or tstafford@coxohio.com.
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