A 71-year-old Coshocton County man is facing a felonious assault charge after deputies say he shot his 24-year-old granddaughter with a shotgun during a verbal altercation, then barricaded himself inside his home for hours before surrendering in the front yard. The shooting happened on August 19 in the 25000 block of Township Road 180 in White Eyes Township, a rural, unincorporated community in northeastern Coshocton County.
Rick Phillips is accused of firing a shotgun at his granddaughter while she was outside in the yard, according to the Coshocton County Sheriff's Office. Deputies were dispatched to the home following a reported shooting and, upon arrival, provided immediate medical aid to the young woman, who was struck and injured by the gunfire. As reported by YourRadioPlace.com, deputies safely evacuated both the victim and Phillips' wife from the property before initiating barricade negotiations with Phillips, who remained alone inside the residence.
Special Response Team, Negotiators Called to the Scene
With Phillips barricaded inside, the sheriff's office activated its Special Response Team and deployed agency negotiators, who established communication with him. The standoff eventually ended when Phillips surrendered to deputies in the front yard without further incident. The sheriff's office credited deputies, Special Response Team members, negotiators, dispatchers, detectives and the K-9 division, along with Coshocton County EMS and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, for their roles in resolving the situation. The state agency assisted local authorities at the scene with evidence collection and crime scene processing, per the same account.
Phillips was taken into custody and booked into the Coshocton County Justice Center, the county's detention facility at 500 North 3rd Street in Coshocton that opened after a ribbon-cutting ceremony in November 2024, replacing the county's 1973 jail, according to a Facebook post from WTNS. He was charged with felonious assault, and the sheriff's office says additional charges are pending as the investigation continues.
Prosecutor to Review Additional Charges
Case proceedings and any additional charges against Phillips are being reviewed by Coshocton County Prosecuting Attorney Ben Hall, who has led the county's felony prosecutions in Common Pleas Court since May 2023, according to county commission records. Under Ohio Revised Code 2903.11, felonious assault is a second-degree felony carrying a potential prison sentence of two to eight years and fines up to $15,000, per Zukerman Law. If a grand jury indicts a firearm specification under Ohio Revised Code 2941.145, Phillips could face a mandatory three to six additional consecutive years in prison beyond any sentence for the underlying felony.
The Coshocton County Sheriff's Office, which oversaw the response, is led by elected Sheriff James A. Crawford. White Eyes Township, where the shooting unfolded, covers 25.5 square miles and had a population of 1,222 as of the 2020 U.S. Census, a small rural corner of a county that had an estimated 37,188 residents in 2025. The 24-year-old victim's current medical condition has not been disclosed, and it remains unclear what specifically triggered the altercation between her and her grandfather before the shooting.
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