LISBON — The special prosecutor who announced earlier this month that the deadly 2025 officer-involved shooting in St. Clair Township was justified and no criminal charges would be filed released his final written report this week.

Muskingum County Prosecutor Ron Welch relayed the details he learned about the shootout which ended with the deaths of 4-year-old Rosalie Martin, Steubenville, and Joe Como, 29, Wellsville, and left St. Clair Township Police Officer Dakota Wetzel injured. Wetzel remains on administrative leave while recovering from his injuries.

“This case draws attention to many different issues. The first issue is the shortcomings that exist in mental health for providing a safe and secure placement for individuals in crisis who represent a danger to themselves, the public, and ultimately law enforcement. The second issue is officers, despite their best efforts, do not always have an opportunity to put critical incident training to use because situations can escalate in a split second. A third issue highlighted in this case is officers do not get to choose when and where an incident may escalate resulting in the use of deadly force,” Welch wrote.

According to the written account, Como was scheduled for an appointment on Jan. 22, 2025 to see a doctor regarding his mental health and was driven to the appointment by a family member, but became upset before going in and argued with the family member, then exited the car and walked away from the office. The doctor’s office contacted law enforcement asking officers to help locate Como, explaining he had “walked away from his appointment and was currently psychotic.”

A short time later, Wetzel and Detective Chase Askounes located Como on St. Clair Avenue and pulled into the driveway leading to Huntington Bank. They called out to Como asking him to “come here for a minute.” Then they called to him a second time “at which point Como pivoted and began abruptly walking toward Officer Wetzel.”

The report said Wetzel told Como, “‘Stop, let me see your hands. Let me see your hands!’ Como pulled his hands from his pockets and immediately visible in his right hand was a firearm. Como takes three more strides towards Officer Wetzel closing the distance between the two to less than 20 feet.”

“It was at this point Office Wetzel fired the first of five shots. The first two shots appear to strike Como, who then spins away and ducks to his right as Officer Wetzel fired three more shots. As Officer Wetzel fired his fifth shot, Como manages to fire a shot which strikes Officer Wetzel in the head. Officer Askounes, who was moving the cruiser, exited his vehicle and fired another 11-13 shots as Como continued to move on the ground,” the report said.

Officers secured the suspect and provided medical attention to him until medics arrived to transport him to the hospital.

“Como’s firearm was found in the snow right next to his body,” Welch wrote.

In addressing the death of the child, he wrote that, “Tragically, one of the shots fired by Officer Wetzel passed through a dentist’s office that was located behind Joseph Como at the time of the shooting, striking and killing 4-year-old Rosalie Martin. From review of the video, it appears most likely that the third shot fired by Officer Wetzel was the shot that missed Como and went into the dentist’s office.”

Welch explained that he reviewed the investigative packet which included body camera footage from officers, video footage from the area where the shooting occurred, witness statements, crime scene diagrams, reconstruction data, ballistic reports, DNA reports, autopsy reports, photographs and other materials. He said the footage from Wetzel’s body worn camera showed that the entire incident from first contact with Como to the last shot fired was less than 40 seconds. From the time that officers first call out to Como to the first shot being fired was 23 seconds. The time between the first order for Como to show his hands to the first shot was 4 seconds while the time from when Como pulls out the gun to the first shot is 2 seconds.

“In viewing this footage, it is obvious there was no opportunity for Officer Wetzel to implement anything learned during critical incident training or to engage in any type of de-escalation tactics. Officer Wetzel was placed in a situation requiring him to make a split-second decision where no outcome was going to be positive. However, the actions taken by Officer Wetzel were justified given the totality of the circumstances,” Welch said.

He concluded that “Officer Wetzel did not act recklessly, negligently or in any manner that would subject him to criminal charges. In short, this was a justifiable shooting with tragic consequences.”

Welch noted that he reviewed the scene in Columbiana County, spoke with investigators and also spoke and met in person with the families of Como and Martin separately, giving them an opportunity to ask questions regarding his decision and voice their concerns.

“In conclusion, I offer my sympathies to all who have been impacted by this event and hope others never have to experience the trauma suffered by those involved in this case,” Welch wrote.