Brothers Yield 1,000 Firearms After Being Killed In Police Standoff Over Skipped Court Date

More than 1,000 firearms and over 140,000 rounds of ammunition are now in the custody of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) after law enforcement officers seized them from a Monroe Township property where two brothers were gunned down and killed Saturday morning.

The brothers identified as Randy Wilhelm, 56, and Bradley Wilhelm, 53, allegedly viciously fired at law enforcement vehicles and threatened to blow up a propane tank rather than face arrest after one of the suspects missed a mandatory court appearance, Knox County Sheriff's officials said.

The Sheriff’s office had reportedly done planning and surveillance to bring about a nonviolent resolution, but “based on their actions, the brothers, unfortunately, did not appear to have any intention of being arrested,” Sheriff David Shaffer said in a statement, according to a report by CBS News.

"Randy Wilhelm was under indictment for felonious assault and multiple offenses of violence, and he was a fugitive from justice," Knox County Prosecutor Chip McConville clarified Monday.

"Both of those (circumstances) trigger a weapons-under-disability charge, and so those guns are evidence of that crime and are potentially subject to civil forfeiture," McConville added.

The deadlock with the authorities started after a bail bondsman reported shortly before 11:30 p.m. Friday that his vehicle had been shot at many times as he was trying to arrest Randy Wilhelm, the Knox County Sheriff said.

In response to the incessant shooting, deputies appealed for assistance from external agencies including BCI, the Ohio Highway Patrol, Mount Vernon police, Richland and Delaware county sheriff's offices, and Marysville police Special Response Team. Bulletproof vehicles were also provided so that officers can enter the property, however, three of the vehicles were struck by gunfire from the two brothers, according to authorities.

Randy Wilhelm had been released on a US$100,000 bail but did not appear for an Aug. 2 trial in county court for a 2020 arraignment on charges of intimidation, menacing by stalking, bribery, felonious assault, and domestic violence, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

According to authorities, they were tipped off numerous times that Wilhelm, an eminent trap shooter and skillful gunman, owns a hoard of weapons and ammo and expressed his resolve not to be captured by law enforcement.