“The suspect fired a weapon at the team, and a member of the task force returned fire, striking the suspect,” he said.
The Clark County Coroner’s Office would not confirm the name of the man killed by U.S. Marshals.
However, Douglas C. Barton was identified on an arrest warrant for a retaliation charge filed April 2 by the Stark County Sheriff’s Office in Massillon Municipal Court. Barton’s address was listed as the same North Hampton Road home that was the scene of Friday’s deadly shooting.
“The defendant, Douglas Barton, did make threats of harm towards Judge (David) Stucki who had presided over his court case while in Greene County, Ohio,” an affidavit stated.
The warrant was recalled Friday afternoon at the prosecutor’s request “due to the defendant being deceased; warrant is hereby canceled.”
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is handling the investigation. The U.S. Marshals Service will conduct an internal review once BCI’s investigation in complete, Sanso said.
The most recent court case in Greene County involving Barton, who formerly lived in Fairborn, was an appeal he filed in September 2020 involving his ex-wife in the domestic relations division of Greene County Common Pleas Court. Court records show he was married July 2, 2012, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and that the divorce on “incompatible” grounds was issued Sept. 12, 2014.
Since the divorce decree, Barton filed six appeals, records show. Only the most recent appeal remains open. Barton also had a previous retaliation indictment. The 2015 case later was dismissed, Greene County court records show.
Larry Marvel, who lives next door, said he heard “a couple of shots,” around 8 a.m. Friday.
“It wasn’t until about 9 o’clock, later, I was down at my son’s house and we were coming back and we saw all the police and then we kind of figured what had happened,” Marvel said.
Marvel said the Marshal’s Service had contacted him earlier this week to see if they could use his driveway to stake out the house.
“I knew they were trying to give that peaceful resolution, get him away from everything,’' he said.
Marvel said he did not know his neighbor but described people in the neighborhood as friendly.
“We don’t do things together, so I wouldn’t be able to tell you the names of all the neighbors even though we talk to each other if we’re out walking,’' Marvel said.
