ODD, WV (LOOTPRESS) — A Mercer County man was arrested early Sunday morning after deputies say a reported suicide attempt turned violent inside a home with multiple family members, including two young children, present.
According to the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department, deputies responded around 1:40 a.m. on September 21 to a residence in Odd after a 911 call. She told dispatchers her son, Keith Walker Jr., had attempted suicide and then became aggressive toward family members.
Deputies say Walker’s father, Keith Sr., arrived at the home to try to calm his son, but Walker Jr. shoved him and allegedly tried to access a firearm in an effort to harm himself again. His father was able to stop him.
At the time of the incident, Walker’s mother and his two children — ages three years and 10 months — were sitting in the living room just feet away from the first attempt involving a shotgun.
When deputies arrived, Walker Jr. initially ran inside the residence. Fearing he would retrieve a weapon, deputies pursued him and found spent .22 caliber casings scattered across the floor. During the struggle to take him into custody, deputies say Walker Jr. resisted arrest, shoved one deputy, and grabbed another’s radio equipment before being subdued.
Inside the home, investigators found evidence of a discharged shotgun, including wadding on the floor and damage to a door frame. The firearm, a 12-gauge single-shot shotgun with a spent shell casing, was recovered from the father’s bedroom and collected as evidence.
Walker Jr. was arrested and charged with Obstructing, Domestic Battery, two counts of Child Neglect, and Wanton Endangerment.
