Gibsonburg Officer Stabbed in Neck During Bank Call, Suspect Shot and Caught

A Gibsonburg police officer was stabbed in the neck Wednesday morning while responding to a trespassing call at a downtown bank, touching off a nearly four-hour manhunt across Sandusky County before the suspect was tracked down in the woods and taken into custody. The officer, who returned fire and struck the suspect in the face during the struggle, was later listed in stable condition after surgery.

The incident began around 8:59 a.m. Wednesday at Union Bank Company on West Madison Street in Gibsonburg, according to BNO News, after a female officer responded to reports of a trespasser at the private business. That trespasser has been identified as 25-year-old Scott Alan Dodd Jr. While attempting to relocate Dodd during a scuffle, the officer was stabbed in the neck and fired her service weapon, striking him in the right cheek before he fled into nearby woods, per the same report. Backup officers responded to an officer-down call shortly after the initial contact, and official emergency alerts noted Dodd sustained a visible facial gunshot wound.

Fox 8 News, citing Ohio authorities, reported Wednesday that the man suspected of stabbing the officer was later apprehended following the manhunt, according to FOX 8 News. Both the officer and Dodd were taken to Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center, a Level 1 trauma center in Toledo, where the officer underwent surgery and was reported in stable condition, as reported by The Blade. Sandusky County Sheriff Chris Hilton said Dodd would face formal criminal charges once he is discharged from the hospital.

A Half-Mile, Four-Hour Search

Dodd was apprehended around 3:15 p.m. Wednesday near West Stone and Sander streets in northwest Gibsonburg, about half a mile from the bank, following an active manhunt that drew in Toledo Police, the Sandusky County Sheriff's Office, Ohio State Highway Patrol SWAT, the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, and U.S. Border Patrol, the Blade reported. Local residents were asked to shelter indoors during the search. Woodmore Local Schools, located roughly five miles north of Gibsonburg, placed all district buildings on a secondary lockdown as a precaution while the search continued.

Gibsonburg Police Chief Don Karr said Wednesday that he believes this marks the first time an officer in the village department's history has been severely injured in a physical confrontation, calling the incident unprecedented for the department, the outlet noted. The Gibsonburg Police Department operates with just eight sworn officers — five full-time and three part-time — and two marked patrol vehicles covering the village around the clock, according to the Village of Gibsonburg, which relies heavily on mutual aid from surrounding agencies for larger incidents like Wednesday's search.

Suspect's Prior Record and Pending Investigations

Court records reviewed by WTOL show Dodd was convicted of first-degree misdemeanor assault in October 2025 for striking a juvenile in the face, receiving a 30-day jail sentence and a year of probation. He was also subject to protection orders in 2024 and 2025, and officials described him as homeless despite court records listing a prior Gibsonburg address, per WTOL.

Two separate investigations are now underway. The Sandusky County Sheriff's Office is handling the criminal investigation into the stabbing, while the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation was asked to conduct an independent review of the officer-involved shooting, BNO News reported — standard practice under state policy whenever an officer discharges a weapon. Under Ohio Revised Code § 5502.53, the statewide Blue Alert program was activated to broadcast suspect details during the search, and under Ohio Revised Code § 2903.11, felonious assault against a law enforcement officer is classified as a first-degree felony carrying up to 11 years in prison upon conviction.

What formal charges Dodd will face once he is released from the hospital, and what the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation's review of the shooting ultimately finds, remain open questions. For now, the officer remains in stable condition following surgery, and Gibsonburg — a village whose small force leans on neighboring agencies for backup — is left reckoning with what its chief called an unprecedented act of violence against one of its own.