Targeted attack kills man in Canton, Ohio

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Summary: A gunman shot 51-year-old Richard Staats through his bedroom window in northwest Canton, Ohio early on April 19, 2026, striking him in the head. Staats died two days later at Aultman Hospital. Authorities arrested 33-year-old Ashaad Delshawn Carlisle on May 6 after a multi-agency search. He faces aggravated murder charges in what police call a targeted attack inside the victim’s own home.

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Gunfire ripped through a quiet northwest Canton, Ohio neighborhood before dawn on April 19, 2026, turning an ordinary apartment into a crime scene. Richard Staats, a 51-year-old man who lived on the ground floor of a building in the 3100 block of Tuscarawas Street West, never had a chance to react. A bullet fired from outside crashed through his bedroom window and struck him in the head. Neighbors heard the shots around 4:30 a.m. One of them, Canton Councilman Jason Scaglione, called 911 after the noise jolted him awake.

Officers rushed inside and found Staats lying between his bed and the wall. They gave him immediate aid and rushed him to Aultman Hospital, where he clung to life in critical condition. Two days later, on April 21, family members confirmed doctors had removed him from life support. He died from his injuries that afternoon.

Police quickly treated the case as a targeted attack on someone inside his own home. Detectives identified 33-year-old Ashaad Delshawn Carlisle of Stark County as the suspect and obtained warrants for aggravated murder plus firearms violations. For nearly three weeks Carlisle remained at large, prompting concern among people living nearby who worried about random violence in their apartment complex.

That chapter closed early on May 6 when members of the U.S. Marshals’ Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force tracked Carlisle to a residence in southwest Canton and took him into custody without incident. A judge later set his bond at $2 million, and the case moved to the grand jury.

Residents who spoke with reporters after the shooting described a lingering sense of unease. One neighbor said the bullet that killed Staats had also shattered any feeling of safety inside their own four walls. Canton police continue to investigate what led to the shooting, but no motive has been released publicly.

The incident serves as a stark reminder that even routine evenings at home can end in tragedy when gun violence reaches into private spaces. Authorities say the swift arrest shows how local and federal teams work together to hold suspects accountable.

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Suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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