Timothy Sturgis, 42, shot and killed himself on the evening of 2 September after a two-hour standoff at his property just outside Ashville, Ohio, where he was growing marijuana.[1][2] A state helicopter working with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Marijuana Eradication and Clandestine Lab unit had spotted the plants, and three detectives from the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office and the US 23 Major Crimes Task Force approached on foot.[1] When confronted, Sturgis pointed an AK-47 rifle at his own head and, after the standoff, fired a single shot.[1][2] Sheriff Robert Radcliffe said the grow was moderate, with more plants inside the house and weapons in every room, and that deputies had hoped Sturgis would put the gun down.[2]
Ohio grower kills himself in standoff as eradication team closes in
Timothy Sturgis, 42, shot and killed himself on 2 September 2014 after a two-hour standoff when a marijuana eradication task force came to his property outside Ashville, Ohio. A state helicopter had spotted his cannabis plants.
🇺🇸 Ashville, Pickaway County, Ohio · Ohio, United States
- Deaths
- 1
Sources
- Ohio Man Kills Self During Marijuana Farm Raid Standoff. StoptheDrugWar.org, 4 September 2014.
- Pot Grower Kills Self During Tense Police Standoff in Ohio. CelebStoner, 4 September 2014.
Open questions the AI reported
- The opened sources give no consistent official count of the plants; one estimates about fifteen from the sheriff's-office photographs.
- Both opened reports draw on the Columbus Dispatch's original reporting, which could not be reopened, so details rest on those two accounts.