“We have a crisis in our community – we have rampant gun violence,” with nearly 50 shootings in Ross County in 2023 – and one was his own child. That was the message of Jason Salley, who spoke to Chillicothe Council in the public address portion Wednesday evening.
Salley said we should not be having this level of gun violence in our small town, and it seems like the issue is not being addressed. He said he had emailed council and the mayor in July and got only one response.
“Never in my wildest dreams” did he expect that a few months later his own family would be a victim of a shooting. He said that on December 12th, his adopted daughter was shot at by her boyfriend, and so was another friend who intervened. His daughter was wounded in the hip and the friend is now mostly paralyzed, but the shooter killed himself at the end of the exchange. (Read the story in the Chillicothe Gazette.)
Salley said he brought in an evidence bag from the incident to show that no one is immune from or untouchable by gun violence.
He said he had a meeting scheduled with a state representative on the issue. Salley said one topic that needs to be explored are red flag laws – he said his daughter’s shooter had been in a mental health crisis and should not have been able to buy or have a gun.
Salley emailed me the script that he read from to council; read it in the side story.
For clarity, Salley pointed out that “our child who got shot is actually our niece but we call her our daughter. We raised her since she was a young teen and have had custody of her since 2017.”
Find more in the article on the Scioto Post, including a video interview and a link to Salley's script.
Kevin Coleman covers local government and culture for the Scioto Post and iHeart Media Southern Ohio. For stories or questions, contact Kevin Coleman or the iHeart Southern Ohio Newsroom.
Jason Salley expounds on his public commentary to Chillicothe Council on January 3rd, 2024, on shootings in the city - including his own daughter's wounding.