CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — The case surrounding the officer-involved shooting involving a Ross County Sheriff’s Deputy has officially been closed.
Sergeant Eric Kocheran was released from Grant Medical Center almost a month after the incident that transpired outside the sheriff’s office in November of last year. On Nov. 17, surveillance and body camera footage captured the tense moments between Kocheran and 42-year-old Nicolas Mitchell.
The video shows Mitchell, around 5 p.m., knocking on a window at the back of the sheriff’s office building. Upon Kocheran’s approach and subsequent door opening, Mitchell expressed fears about threats to his family and children. The situation quickly escalated when Mitchell brandished a firearm, prompting Kocheran to draw his own weapon in defense. A brief exchange of gunfire ensued, resulting in Kocheran’s serious injury and Mitchell’s death.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), at the request of Ross County Sheriff George Lavender, undertook the case. After BCI concluded their investigation on March 6, the Ross County prosecutor, Jeff Marks, faced months of delays before deciding not to charge Kocheran, effectively closing the case last week.
Case files reviewed by the Guardian reveal that Mitchell had parked his girlfriend’s car at a Family Dollar on Bridge Street, then walked to the sheriff’s office to confront Kocheran, who appeared to be a random law enforcement target. Mitchell was looking to kill a police officer, but Kocheran being the victim was by mere coincidence, evidence states. Medical records show that Kocheran shot Mitchell four times, with a fatal shot to the head before Kocheran himself laid in the hallway and was tended to by other deputies.
Investigation into Mitchell’s background revealed concerning details. A frequent visitor of a local music store, he often shared conspiracy theories with the workers.
“During these interactions, [employees] described Mitchell as ‘checked out.’ [Employees] confirmed that Mitchell has always talked about conspiracy theories; but it was within the past two to three weeks that the theories became more ‘radical’ and intense or far fetched. These theory topics were surrounded by government, aliens, Epstein, Nazis, etc.,” agents wrote in their report.
Mitchell lived in rural Ross County with his girlfriend, who provided officers consent to search their home. She also told agents that Mitchell said someone controlled his thoughts for him.
Among the findings were large quantities of pills, guns, and a foil-wrapped car inside the garage which Mitchell had previously slept in for two weeks before the shooting to purportedly avoid CIA mind control. Found in the home were disturbing religious notes inside a notebook and mentions of drinking human blood from skulls. Also found was a bottle of ivermectin, an animal drug controversially suggested as a COVID-19 treatment.
Adding to the tragic narrative, Mitchell’s girlfriend shared that on the day of the shooting, he had shown her a YouTube video about the CIA controlling minds. Mitchell was raised by his estranged aunt from the age of two after his mother, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and alcoholism, was institutionalized.
Kocheran remains employed by the sheriff’s office — on medical leave without pay — but is expected to be forced into a medical retirement due to ongoing complications from the shooting as he battles the state to pay for prescription medication he is required to take as a result of the shooting.
The decision to close the case brings some closure to a tumultuous chapter, but raises questions about mental health and the influences of conspiracy theories on individuals.