Mix Up Leads to Bloody Firefight Between Police Departments

WINTERSVILLE - A massive firefight erupted along State Route 43 on the border of Wintersville and Steubenville at around 5:30 in the evening and continued until nearly midnight. On one side was Wintersville Police Department. On the other, the Steubenville Police Department. When the gunshots finally came to halt, all anyone could do was stare in bewilderment. That's when Ohio Valley News stepped in to put together the pieces. We talked to Steubenville Police Chief Gordon Franklin to ask what his officers were doing when the shooting broke out.

"Well we were basically running an undercover prostitution sting," said Franklin. "We had a female officer posing as a hooker, and then a white SUV pulled up and grabbed her. We followed the car to Wintersville and made our move there. All of the sudden, a bunch of other cars came around the corner and before we knew it, we were being shot at."

When we talked to Wintersville Police Chief Don Jefferson, he offered up a shockingly similar story.

"Well we were basically running an undercover prostitution sting," said Jefferson. "We had a male officer posing as a client in a white SUV, and he picked up the first hooker he saw. A bunch of cars started following our officer so we moved in and before we knew it, we were being shot at."

The firefight started as a small skirmish until both sides called in for back up. In just under an hour, Wintersville had become a war zone.

"We called in a helicopter," said Jefferson. "But so did they and the two choppers started to fight. We brought in our dogs, but they did too. Luckily, all the dogs did was sniff each others butts and lick the other officers while we were trying to shoot."

The carnage was brought to an end when the local Bloods gang showed up and subdued the officers. It was only then that the police officers realized they were fighting fellow law enforcement. The two departments then turned and arrested the Bloods for assaulting police officers.

"At least at the end of the day we got something right," said Franklin. "We'll be taking steps to make sure this doesn't happen in the future."

In the end, 26 police officers were killed, 59 were wounded, 77 civilians were killed and 85 were injured. In addition, 63 houses were either damaged or destroyed.

"We all lost a lot," said Roy Lucas, a resident of Wintersville. "We could care less about our homes, but they destroyed the Riesbecks's."

The Riesbeck's was being used as a bunker for Wintersville police until the Steubenville cops fired a missile and reduced the store to a pile of rubble.

"I lost my wife and my grandkids," said Lucas. "But worst of all is that now I'm forced to shop at Wal-Mart."