Suspect apprehended in Oxford apartment barricade situation
Police took a suspect into custody after an hours-long standoff in which a man had barricaded himself in a former girlfriend's apartment, Oxford's Chief of Police confirmed.
Editor's Note: This story was updated at 11:30 a.m. April 16 with additional information about the suspect.
Oxford Police apprehended a suspect following an hours-long barricade situation April 15, OPD Chief John Jones confirmed to the Oxford Free Press that evening.
A woman reported to OPD that her ex-boyfriend had entered her apartment on the corner of High and Locust Streets without permission and wouldn't leave. The woman was not in the apartment at the time she reported the trespassing. When OPD responded, the suspect barricaded himself in the unit.
Jones confirmed that Harrison Hooks, Jr. is the suspect.
When OPD officers were unable to enter the unit, Jones said they called in support including the Butler County Sheriffs Department, the Butler County Regional SWAT Team, the Miami University Police Department, the Oxford Fire Department and the Oxford Township Police Department. The situation began around 6 p.m., eyewitnesses near the event told the Oxford Free Press and The Miami Student. The suspect was apprehended just before 9:30 p.m.
"We attempted to get him out. He locked the door. We had a key, but then when we tried to go in, he forced the door shut and locked it," Jones said. "So, not knowing whether he was armed due to his past, we utilized the SWAT team, which has training and weapons and tactics designed for a barricade situation."
The first responders ultimately utilized both gas and a K9 unit to apprehend the suspect, Jones said. No one except the suspect was injured to Jones' knowledge as of 10 p.m. April 15, and the suspect was in custody and transported to McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital.
The situation had attracted a large crowd of people throughout the evening. After a loud bang around 8:45 p.m., many of them dispersed. Miami University sent out multiple emergency alerts for students to avoid the area throughout the night.
According to court records, Hooks was arrested last May for domestic violence and aggravated menacing after Oxford police responded to his apartment for a report of domestic violence in progress. Hooks’ girlfriend at the time reported being “punched several times in the head while in the car” with him, according to a criminal complaint. A separate complaint for the aggravated menacing charge alleged that he threatened her “by telling her he was going to kill her by beating her so bad she would be unrecognizable if she told the police what happened today, kill her mother and hang her dog.”
Last July, Hooks was sentenced to 180 days in jail with credit for 61 days already served, but the balance of days was suspended according to court filings. A separate complaint filed in July 2024 alleged that Hooks had violated a protection order by calling a victim’s phone number from the Butler County Jail, but the case was dismissed.
Hooks previously pled guilty to multiple counts of theft in 2007, aggravated burglary in 2009 and three counts of burglary and one firearm charge in 2015, according to Butler County court records. He was sentenced to eight years in prison for the 2015 charges.
