A man who had worked in the Ohio State University Department of Public Safety until 2009 reportedly died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on campus Nov. 29.
Police say Dean D. Sturgis, 63, fatally shot himself around 11:20 a.m. in OSU’s Wexner Center for the Arts.
Sturgis had resigned from his position with the Department of Public Safety in 2009 to avoid being fired, according to dispatch.com.
OSU police were immediately alerted of the incident by public safety personnel and a member of the Wexner Center Control called Columbus police at 11:26 a.m. Columbus SWAT officers also responded, initially unsure if there was an active shooter situation.
Sturgis shot himself on an upper level of the gallery that was mostly empty. No one else was injured or believed to have been in any danger.
Before his death, police say Sturgis vandalized several pieces of artwork, although they declined to give details about the extent of the damage. The art damaged was part of the center’s After Picasso exhibit, which features 150 works from artists influenced by Pablo Picasso. The exhibit will permanently close.
In addition to a police investigation, the Wexner Center and the OSU Department of Public Safety have begun internal reviews of their security procedures.
