Off-duty Officer Detains Intruder at Gunpoint … at His Own Home

An off-duty police officer in Ashland woke up to an intruder inside his own home earlier this week.

On the morning of July 9, Daniel Weikel phoned Ashland Police Chief Ger Daley to let him know that he had a man held at gunpoint in his kitchen.

In his affidavit, Daley says he responded right away to Weikel’s home. As he came in through the back door, he saw a black man facing the wall, wedged behind the oven.

Daley ordered the man to come out from behind the oven and he placed him in custody.

The man has been identified as Chris Sheppard, of Ashland.

Weikel told Daley that when he came downstairs that morning, he noticed glass all over the living room.

As he went to the kitchen to open the back door, he saw Sheppard, who said, “Hey.” At the time, Weikel says Sheppard was holding a pair of large kitchen knives.

Weikel says he immediately grabbed his gun and held the man at gunpoint while he called Daley.

When Weikel pointed his gun at Sheppard, Sheppard dropped the knives behind the oven.

Daley says that while Sheppard was in custody, he said that people were after him, that he’d been shot, and that he was running to get away from these people.

Sheppard then allegedly said that he didn’t feel safe, so he jumped through the window of Weikel’s home.

Daley says he then went to Sheppard’s home and spoke to his girlfriend. Sheppard’s girlfriend said none of what he was saying was true.

Instead, she says Sheppard ran out of their home this morning, wearing only a pair of pants and that she had no idea where he’d gone. She also said there was no one else at their home with them that morning.

Sheppard was taken to a nearby hospital for a mental health evaluation and for treatment on lacerations to his head.

When he’s out of the hospital, Sheppard will be facing charges of first-degree felony burglary and second-degree felony criminal trespass, as well as a couple misdemeanors.

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