Image via Centerville, OH Police (via FB).

Joseph Gibson, 36, of Dayton, forced his way into a Centerville, Ohio residence at 5 a.m. last Thursday. The residents of the home, a couple with two children, didn’t appreciate the violent and tumultuous intrusion, so the homeowner punched Mr. Gibson’s ticket.

Gibson’s death ranked as the first homicide in 20-plus years in the sleepy Dayton suburb.  In addition to finding Mr. G’s lifeless body just inside the front door, cops also found a woman semi-conscious in the front yard (she hadn’t been shot). They’re speculating she was Gibson’s girlfriend.

From WHIO . . .

Joseph Gibson, 36, of Dayton, was identified Thursday afternoon as the person who had died in the shooting, according to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.

Officers were dispatched to the 9700 block of Sheehan Road shortly before 5 a.m. after a woman at the home reported that someone was attempting to break in, according to Centerville Public Information Officer John Davis…

Officers then located Gibson lying on the floor inside the front door with a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Davis said officers also located a 40-year-old female lying face down in the front lawn unresponsive but breathing. She was taken by medics to a local hospital for treatment for matters unrelated to the shooting.

Increasingly, violent crime can happen even in small towns that haven’t had to deal with that kind of thing for decades. Don’t become complacent. Carry your gun every day.

Consider “home carry” in the sense that if you’ve got clothes on, you’ve got your gun on.  Because when seconds count, a gun in the safe is only a minute or two away. Meanwhile the local police are, well, who knows?

39 COMMENTS

  1. 100% of home invasions occur where? Always be armed.

    And there is no such thing as a safe neighborhood. They’re all safe until the as#holes show up.

  2. I wouldn’t call Centerville a “small town” by any stretch. It’s part of the southern Dayton Metro, really not that far from The Nasty and Dayton itself isn’t the nicest of places.

    Centerville was nice when I was there, a hell of a lot nicer than where I was living, but I’ll be honest that the shocking part of this story to me is that there hasn’t been a homicide there for 20 years. It’s not far, at all, from Xenia and it’s within 20 miles of Springfield. That whole area around the 25/75 interchange has a lot of crime because of the highways.

    • “Centerville is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. A core suburb of Metro Dayton, its population was 24,240 as of the 2020”

      20000 is NOT anything near “town” or small. Perhaps a small CITY.

      Is Boch an URBAN hove dwelling rat? Stupid is living in Illinoistan. In a CITY of Illinoistan is off the chart moronic.

  3. My wife kinda kidded me that I was a bit paranoid for always being armed at home. After a slew of criminal activity now she is generally armed🙄. It was fairly nice when we moved here 23 years ago…

  4. After rereading bit more and a little slower(did not watch vid) could have been the guys old lady needed help and he freaked out? I dunno, I once ran to a police car with proper documentation, DL,Ins, Reg. I could have been shot. Pulled over speeding and when stopped rush a cop car? Not cool.
    Two sides to every coin, this article did not give me enough information to reply that is why I am replying.

      • ” If he was looking for help he went about it wrong.”

        Eh, it very well could have been the ‘help’ he got, was the help he needed.

        (Unconscious woman lying face down in the yard may not agree…)

        • My take exactly. Folks that violently invade a private residence need to get help finding the way out. Which is precisely what happened to this dirt napping dirt bag.
          Well done Mr.Homeowner, give the guy what he NEEDS.

      • jwm,

        An armed scumbag invaded my neighbor’s home around 6:00 a.m. a few years ago. One of the young ladies who lived there (she was roughly 12 years old) ran out of her home in a panic and began frantically trying to get into neighbor’s homes. She eventually found a neighbor a few doors down who had failed to lock their door and she burst into that home–still in a panic.

        Fortunately for that young lady, the home owners were still sleeping in bed, her noise coming through their door failed to wake them up, and they had no firearms anyway (even if she had woke them up).

        So, there are sort-of-legitimate (or least understandable) and truly harmless reasons why someone–even a stranger–might attempt to burst into your home. Of course it could easily be next-to-impossible for the homeowner to discern–in the heat of the moment–whether the person trying to burst in is a violent attacker or a panicked person desperately seeking assistance.

  5. “She was taken by medics to a local hospital for treatment for matters unrelated to the shooting.”
    .
    Those “matters” are likely what caused dumb azz Joey to take the Room Temperature Test.

  6. quote———–Consider “home carry” in the sense that if you’ve got clothes on, you’ve got your gun on. Because when seconds count, a gun in the safe is only a minute or two away. Meanwhile the local police are, well, who knows?——–quote

    So the town has not had an incident like this in 20 years so now everyone is supposed to be armed to the teeth even when pissing in the toilet. Sorry but normal people do not live like that nor do they ever want to become so paranoid that they feel they must live like that.

    In my own boyhood town we had the first homicide (claim of self-defense) in over 57 years and no one is shouting that the sky is falling and that everyone should have a Tommy gun laid in their baby strollers right next to their newborn. Sorry, none of us wants to live like that and none of us are that paranoid either. This type of thinking only appeals and even feels normal to the paranoid Far Right, normal people are just shaking their heads in disbelief.

    What is really sad is that in “civilized countries” with tough gun laws this subject never even comes up and if it did the person bringing up this philosophy would get free mental health care, something they do not get for free here and often do not get even if they want it because they cannot afford it, thank the Republicans for that.

    • You claiming there hasn’t been a murder in Canton, Ohio in 57 years? According to your facebook page you live there.

      In a ‘civilized’ country you would be in an institution. Getting the meds you need and keeping the public safe from you.

      If you want to know why we insist on carrying guns. Look into a mirror.

        • jerry p. of canton ohio. With a facebook obsession with the then underage Greta Thornbird.

          You’ve never told the truth yet. Prove me wrong.

        • Jerry we know man, just own it, you fucked up and doxxed yourself a while ago. Lucky for you you aren’t fucking with lefties or they would have come after you instead of pitying you.

      • jwm
        It probably lives In one of the nicer suburbs of Canton like perry heights or hills and dales. It wouldn’t stand a chance in real Canton, if it ever left momies basement. When I’m forced to go to a city I usually go to Akron instead of Canton even though it’s farther

    • The gummint should set aside money to pay for cleanup of the victim’s house. At least in the case of a “Soros Scenario”, wherein the invader was released early for previous crimes.

    • Thirty years as a homeowner and haven’t needed to use a fire extinguisher and don’t know anyone who has. I do know two individuals who have had to defend themselves with firearms in their own homes. One from a rabid raccoon the second from a strung out druggie ( both live in midsized suburbs) You never know when, better to have and not need then to need and not have.

  7. I always have a firearm on my body while in the house or working in the yard, or anytime I leave home. When sleeping or in the shower it’s within arms reach.

  8. That part of Centerville has the lowest crime rate of the entire city; which is low to start with. The “that kinda stuff never happens here” comment was inevitable. The wife was on the phone with 911 at the time and the shot was audible on the recording. It was also reported that a neighbor noticed the idling car at the curb a while before the incident. Too bad they did not alert police about the suspicious car. Things might have turned out differently. It would seem the homeowner was justified. Have not heard anything more in the media about the investigation.

    • I would assume getting a police officer over (Officer Over, out) in a larger town might be a long wait, or just a promise?
      Just a side note.
      My drunk SisnLaw called the cops on her ole man so much they started dragging their feet. So the genesis she was she called in a fire. Things got hot for her in a hurry however the cops did show up faster.

  9. It does not matter what the dearly departed motive was. Criminals need to know the law too, yeah know. Castle Doctrine means if you break in, the resident does not have to prove they were in fear for their life. The very act of breaking and entering a house is a threat. With a wife and 2 little ones behind you, no one should blink. Protecting a bunch of people from a violent person is illegal in NYC, so YMMV.

  10. “….lying on the floor inside the front door with a gunshot wound to the head.”
    Dang son, that’s some madd early morning shooting skillz.

    • Pfffft, 5:30 am might be early evening for him.

      I could be awake or sleeping at any time of the day or night. I try not to sleep past 9 am or before 6 pm, but what the hell…sometimes a siesta is just perfect when the thunderstorms roll in at 2 pm. Other times I make breakfast for dinner. Or a bowl of chili for “2nd Breakfast”. Bonus points for anybody who gets the reference.

      One thing is for certain, though. If the power is on, the cameras are always watching. And the dog next door is always listening, and she doesn’t need electricity or internet. Sometimes she barks at me at 6 am when I open the back slider to watch the sun rise with a cup of coffee at the picnic table. She’s a good girl!

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