SABINA, Ohio – A Friday night high school football game was played at a different stadium this week, not because of weather, but because of a manhunt.
The Week 10 game between Clermont Northeastern and East Clinton was moved to Clermont Northeastern High School, with kickoff still at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 23. It had been scheduled at East Clinton in Sabina, about six miles from the scene of a fatal shooting on State Route 72 in Highland County.
Deputies were called around 8:05 p.m. on Thursday, October 22, to the 13000 block of State Route 72, where a 41-year-old man was found dead. The Highland County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspect as Cassen Kelso Conaway, 20, who left the scene before deputies arrived.
The search ran through the night and was still active on Friday morning, with K-9 teams, drone units, the county special response team, State Highway Patrol aviation, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and deputies from neighboring counties taking part. The Highland County sheriff said Friday morning that investigators still did not know what led to the shooting, and the game was moved away from East Clinton out of caution while Conaway was still at large.
Conaway was taken into custody later on Friday evening, the sheriff’s office said, and jail records show he was booked into the Highland County Jail early Saturday on a murder charge. He is charged, not convicted, and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call the Highland County Sheriff’s Office at 937-393-1421.
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