Reports reveal incident details in city standoff

SANDUSKY — Fire and police reports shed new light on a Tuesday incident in which a man died and a home was gutted by fire. Just after 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Sandusky police were called to a home in the 1200 block of Pierce St. for a domestic violence incident with a gun involved. A woman reported that an argument between her and a man in the home had escalated to the point where the man allegedly held a gun to the woman's head and threatened to kill her and then himself, a Sandusky police report states. The man, identified as 43-year-old Sandusky resident Jerry C. Webb, then allegedly lowered the firearm toward the side of her body and fired a shot that missed the woman, the report states. The woman was eventually able to convince the man to let her leave so she could pick up her son. Police arrive When officers reached the scene, Webb ran into the home. Because Webb was reported to be in possession of a firearm, officers did not pursue him into the house, according to the report. Instead, officers set up a perimeter around the house. They then noticed smoke coming from the rear of the house, the report states. An officer had the woman call Webb and put the call on speakerphone. During the phone call Webb reportedly said he caught the home on fire so police would not be able to find the shell casing from when he fired at the woman. The fire grew larger and started to cause damage to a neighboring home. Officers evacuated the residents of that home, the report states. Webb exited his home with a pistol pointed at his head. Due to Webb being at the home with a firearm, Sandusky police told fire department personnel to stage away from the home. Officers then engaged in attempts to get Webb to put down the gun and surrender. These efforts lasted about 30 minutes, according to Sandusky police Chief Jared Oliver. As smoke from the fire intensified and flames erupted from the roof, an apparent gunshot was heard and Webb collapsed to the ground. Officers rushed to the porch, secured the gun and pulled Webb away from the burning structure. At that point, a Sandusky ambulance was able to approach the scene. Webb was loaded onto a gurney and taken to Firelands Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Fire department response While Sandusky and Perkins Township firefighters could not approach the home from the front, due to Webb being on the porch with a gun, they formulated a plan to start getting water on the house from a protected position behind an adjacent home. Firefighters drove a fire truck about five houses from the burning home. They then ran a hose from the truck, down a nearby home's driveway and then across several backyards until they were in the backyard of the adjacent home, according to a Sandusky fire department incident report. While advancing the hose, one firefighter injured his thumb while climbing over a chain-link fence, the report states. From a position of cover behind an adjacent structure, firefighters were finally able to start getting water on the fire approximately 45 minutes after the woman called authorities. By that time, flames were erupting from the roof, which had started to collapse. Approximately three minutes later, Webb shot himself and firefighters then began normal firefighting operations. Shortly after police officers pulled Webb away from the home, flames were seen from all the home's windows. It took firefighters approximately 30 minutes to have the fire out completely. Fire officials turned off the gas at the meter, the report states. They also called the water department to turn off the home's water at the curb box. A report from the city's building division found that the home was approximately 85% damaged and was uninhabitable and the home was condemned.