Wood Co. Sheriff’s Office arrests Wood Co. woman after standoff

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) - ***UPDATE 5/30/2023*** Wood County Sheriff’s Office arraigned Jody Shields on May 26th on two counts of terroristic threats.

According to the criminal complaint, the report indicated Shields was waving and pointing a gun at people in the area. Further investigation revealed Sheilds had confronted the victim, Jacob Byler, with a firearm believe to be a 9mm pistol.

Byler works at a logging site near the defendant’s residence on Forest Drive.

The complaint said members of the Sheriff’s Office attempted contact with Shields at her residence at which time the defendant failed to comply with the investigation, barricading herself inside the residence.

After multiple attempts to communication with the defendant using a public address system, the defendant appeared at the rear sliding glass door of the home holding a black pistol. The defendant stepped out onto the raised, attached deck waving the pistol around several times before grasping it with two hands and pointing it at deputies. The firearm was later determined to be a replica.

***ORIGINAL 5/24/2023***

A Parkersburg woman is facing multiple charges after a standoff with law enforcement. Jody Shields was arrested on three counts of wanton endangerment after a nearly six-hour standoff.

“Upon the officers, the deputies arrival, the individual went inside the apartment. She came back out on three separate occasions brandishing a weapon,” Wood County Sheriff, Rick Woodyard said.

Residents say they never expected something like this to happen.

“That’s not a normal occurrence here,” resident, Ellisa Seabolt said. “You know what I mean? Like we’ve only been here a couple of months and we’ve never seen the cops down here ever.

“Yeah, I was actually shocked. I didn’t expect anything to happen in this area. I figured this was a nice, calm environment. We’ve never had anything like this happen here,” resident, Amber Moyers said.

Woodyard said the Parkersburg Police Department hostage negotiation team tried to talk her out peacefully. After Shields didn’t respond, authorities used other methods to get her out.

Woodyard said, “Parkersburg P.D. officers along with Wood County Sheriff’s Office and state police injected tear gas in the first and second floor of the apartment.”

Woodyard said after 30 minutes without any response, law enforcement entered the garage.

“Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team made entry to the garage. And she was located inside the vehicle,” Woodyard said. “She was removed from the vehicle, taken into custody without incident.”

Woodyard said he is thankful for the help by all of the first responders.

“The deputies did an excellent job at courting it off, getting people out, getting a perimeter around and stayed inside the hot zone with her to make sure that she didn’t get free in the neighborhood,” Woodyard said. “We were immediately backed up by the state police and Parkersburg P.D. officers were summoned to the scene to assist also. It’s something like this that’s an all-hands on deck.”

Shields was taken to WVU Medicine at Camden Clark Medical Center to be medically examined.

Other agencies involved are Parkersburg police, W.Va. State Police and Eastwood Volunteer Fire Dept.

For previous coverage of this standoff, you can click here for more information.

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