Officials said the incident began following a 911 call, which indicated a male armed with a rifle was inside the Family Dollar, 403 Walton Street West, around 5:15 p.m. possibly robbing the business.
Police arrived on scene and said the man, identified as Shawn Schuett,originally of Mansfield, had barricaded himself inside the business and took two female employees hostage, authorities said.
Officers from Mansfield, Ontario, the Ohio Highway Patrol and the Huron County Sheriff's Office were called to the scene with their rapid response teams, after it was determined the incident became an intended hostage situation, the city's Twitter page said.
Schuett told police he wasn't interested in money, but wanted to "make a statement", according to a tweet on the city's Twitter account.
SWAT teams surrounded the business for more than two hours and around 8 p.m. one of the female hostages escaped through the back door of the Family Dollar and told officers Schuett had shot the other hostage, officials said.
Police broke out the front window of the store and made entry, where they found Schuett dead from an apparent gunshot wound to the head and the other hostage suffering from serious injuries, authorities said.
The injured hostage was transported to the hospital, where she later died from her injuries, police said.
The identity of the deceased hostage was not released.
Walton Street West was closed between Myrtle Avenue and Ohio 103 while authorities dealt with the case.
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