(Lisbon) Morning Journal / Kristi R. Garabrandt The Calcutta area community hosted a candlelight vigil at the Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department for Rosalie Martin, 4, who was killed by a stray bullet during a shooting in St. Clair Township on Wednesday, as well as police officer Dakota Wetzel, who was critically wounded during the incident. A table honoring Wetzel, who is recovering from the gunshot wound, and Rosalie was on display at the candlelight vigil held by Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department.

CALCUTTA — Details about a Wednesday afternoon shootout that left a young child and the suspect dead and a police officer critically wounded began to emerge Thursday.

The gunfire between a suicidal man and police also left eyewitnesses shaken.

Fawn Householder, the Community Outreach Director at Care Funeral Home, heard the gunfire erupt as she sat at her desk at Care’s Calcutta Chapel — just yards away from where a 30-year-old Wellsville man, Joseph Como, opened fire on officers. Inside the chapel, the sounds were first thought to be a car backfiring or even fireworks, but Householder recognized the unmistakable cracks of gunfire immediately.

“I heard thump, thump, thump and then I heard the big shots. It kind of stopped for a moment,” said Householder, still overcome with emotion a day later. “I knew it was gunshots, and I said, ‘There’s something serious going on out there’ and then the gunshots started again.”

From her office window, Householder could see police officers with guns drawn. By the time she made her way to the front door, which opened straight into the chaotic scene, Officer Dakota Wetzel — a three-year member of the St. Clair Township Police Department — had been shot in the head. His fellow officers rushed to move Wetzel to safety between two parked squad vehicles.

“It was like something you would see in a movie,” Householder said. “Except it was real life. They were dragging him out of the way. I saw his vest and I said, ‘A cop has been hit.’ It was surreal.”

A few feet away, Como was down, his body sprawled in the snow in front of the Huntington Bank sign on the curb of St. Clair Avenue, just south of where the road intersects with state Route 170.

Officers still had their guns trained on Como when the already gruesome scene took an even more horrific scene.

“I heard screaming. A lady came running out of the dentist office into the street. She was waving her arms and trying to get the attention of one of the officers,” Householder said. “At first I thought, ‘What is she doing? She’s going to get shot.’ But then a man came out screaming. Two officers went running into the dentist office. I knew something bad had happened inside, I just didn’t know what. I figured somebody must have been shot.”

The “what” was unimaginable. Inside the Dentistry for Children and Teens — a small building that sits directly across the street from where Como laid crumpled and right behind the officers’ immediate perimeter — little Rosalie Martin, a 4-year old from Steubenville, lay bleeding from a stray bullet. Whether that bullet penetrated the building’s alternating brick and vinyl siding and sliced through the brightly painted interior wall before striking Martin remains unclear, as some eyewitness reports say the girl was struck as she made her way into the building.

The dentistry practice caters strictly to children — one of the few in the area that does — and draws young patients from all around the region.

“I was hoping it wasn’t a child, but I knew there were children inside. It’s just heartbreaking,” Householder said, choking back tears. “I mean I could not imagine. Truly an innocent victim in all this.”

Both Wetzel and Martin were life-flighted from the scene — Wetzel to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh and Martin to an undisclosed hospital. Martin later died from her injuries, while Wetzel underwent emergency surgery to remove a portion of his skull and was later listed in stable condition. Como, who was given first aid, was also transported to a hospital by helicopter and was later pronounced dead.

According to St. Clair Township Police Chief Brian McKenzie, the incident began shortly after 2 p.m. when his department was notified by employees at the CAA Health, Behavioral Health, and Dental Center that a possible suicidal man was walking in the area. Officers found Como roughly a mile from the clinic and when they attempted to make contact with him, he immediately opened fire on the officers. The officers returned fire, hitting the suspect.

It has since been learned that Como had a history of mental illness and schizophrenia and outbursts of violence, most recently picking up a domestic violence charge for assaulting his parents at his Center Street residence on Dec. 28.

St. Clair Township Police, Wetzel’s mother Kelly and his fiancee Regan Lambert all extended condolences to Como’s family and asked for continued prayers for Martin’s family when posting updates on Wetzel’s condition on Thursday.

“My thoughts and prayers are with the family of Rosalie Martin, an absolute innocent party and a precious life stripped away from this world way too soon,” Lambert wrote. “My thoughts are also with the family of Joseph Como. I don’t know why he did what he did and I won’t pretend to understand it, but I know his family is feeling every bit of pain and God doesn’t like ugly. I refuse to stoop to his level of just pure disregard for human life.”

While Wetzel’s condition is listed as stable, Lambert posted that “the journey ahead of the couple will be a long one and could look different every day.” His mother called Weztel’s survival “a miracle” as “a large bone fragment that entered his brain passed between two major vessels that are only two millimeters apart.” He remains in the ICU at Presbyterian.

Several fundraisers have been established to benefit Wetzel and the family of Martin. The Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio set up a foundation hours after the shooting and a gofundme set up for Rosalie was just shy of its $26,000 goal at press time. Wetzel’s family is asking that all donations moving forward be done so to benefit Rosalie’s parents, Jennifer and Jessel Martin.

“No parent should have to bury their child, and if the donations can lighten one very small part of Rosalie’s family’s very undeserving load, that would be a very small relief to me,” Lambert wrote.

A candlelight vigil and prayer service was held Thursday night at the Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department for Wetzel and Martin.

During a press briefing following the shooting, McKenzie said the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) had been contacted and an independent investigation requested. BCI was on the scene by late afternoon on Wednesday.

Householder said the Care Calcutta Chapel remained open throughout Wednesday evening to provide a space for BCI to conduct interviews and to serve as a warming station for first responders who rushed to the scene. Aside from offering space, Care offered food and coffee as well as a private setting for fellow officers to collect themselves and process the terrible events that unfolded.

“We are here to serve the community in their worst times. That’s what we do,” Householder said. “We couldn’t do much but we could open our doors. Honestly, I felt helpless when it was all going on. We all did. To be able to help, even a tiny bit, when it was all over, we were fortunate to be able to do that.”

Householder paused to reflect on the last 24 hours.

“We see tragedy and heartbreak every day here,” she said. “We see loss. We see death. That’s the nature of our business. But to see it unfold in real time, right in front of you, it shakes you to the core. Our hearts are breaking for Rosalie’s family and they are rejoicing that Dakota made it. It looked bad. It was bad and something I hope to never see again.”

Staff writer Kristi R. Garabrandt contributed to this story