Ohio man dead after igniting fireworks in home during standoff; 2 girls rescued

UNIONTOWN, Ohio — An Ohio man died early Saturday after throwing lit fireworks at his home during a standoff with police, authorities said.

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Police said the man’s two young children were rescued from the burning building, according to The Repository of Canton.

Jason Matthew Tyo, 45, of Uniontown, had been released from the Stark County Jail on Friday after being charged with illegally setting off fireworks in his backyard, according to Stark County online court records.

Tyo’s death is being investigated as a fire-related incident, The Repository reported.

Police responded to Tyo’s home at 1:29 a.m. EDT after the man’s girlfriend reported a “verbal domestic dispute,” Uniontown police Lt. Nate Weidman told the newspaper.

“He had told her he wanted to die suicide-by-cop,” Weidman.

The woman and her three daughters had left the home, but Tyo remained inside with his 7- and 8-year-old daughters, the newspaper reported.

“I was trying to negotiate with him to get the kids out,” Weidman told The Repository. “He refused.

“We got one (girl) out the back window. The other one came out the front door. (The home) was fully engulfed in fire when we got the girls.”

Tyo’s body was found in the second-floor children’s bedroom, according to The Repository. Harry Campbell, chief investigator with the Stark County Coroner’s Office, pronounced Tyo dead at 6:05 a.m. EDT.

Tyo was arrested on Wednesday on charges of inducing panic, fireworks violations and having weapons under disability, according to Stark County online records. Investigating officers learned that Tyo had been setting off fireworks in the evening and early morning hours for several months, according to The Repository.

He was held without bond until a court hearing on Friday and was released on an unsecured $25,000 bond, online records show.

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