It has been a little more than five years since Ohio State was rocked with one of the worst tragedies in its history. On Feb. 10, 1997, University Police lost a loved member of its staff in a senseless tragedy.
Michael Blankenship – whose name now graces the building which houses the University Police station – was dispatched to the wrong place at the wrong time that evening.
Blankenship was the first and only officer to die on campus in the line of duty, said University Police Chief Ron Michalec. Blankenship was 43 years old at the time of his death.
“There is a whole range of emotions that still affect all of us (at University Police),” Michalec said.
Blankenship and his partner, former University Police Officer Sandy Niciu, were dispatched to the lobby of the Wexner Center for the Arts at about 5:44 p.m.
Security officials for the Wexner reported a man – later identified as Mark Edgerton, an Upper Arlington resident – appeared to have taken something from the Ticketmaster desk on the western side of the Wexner Center, Michalec said.
Edgerton became irritated when he heard a male security guard identify him as the person who tried to steal something, causing a disturbance. Edgerton left the Wexner Center, and police think he went to the second floor of the Ohio Union parking garage, Michalec said.
“He came back five to 10 minutes later and demanded to see the man who accused him of stealing,” he said. “When the officers arrived at the scene, Edgerton saw Mike and fixated on him.”
Edgerton would not leave. So Blankenship and Niciu put him under arrest for disorderly conduct.
“Sandy grabbed his right arm and Mike grabbed his left and tried to pull his arms away from his body,” Michalec said. “His hands came out with a gun, and (he shot) Mike through his upper lip.”
Blankenship was killed instantly, Michalec said. Edgerton fired two more shots at Niciu, but he missed.
According to an article in The Lantern on Feb. 11, 1997, within minutes the Columbus Division of Police, including SWAT Team and K-9 units, were on the scene searching the garage where Edgerton was thought to be hiding.
University Police were able to identify who the assailant was partly because he had left behind a baseball cap he had won from a radio station.
When officers went to Edgerton’s Upper Arlington home a few days later, they found him dead, with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head, Michalec said. DNA tests proved that blood on Edgerton’s shoe matched Blankenship’s, and skin residue found on the baseball cap also matched Edgerton’s DNA.
“There was a whole lot of turmoil (at the station). We tried to keep people busy,” Michalec said. “Something like this alters the whole agency.”
Blankenship’s death altered the mood of the entire OSU community as well.
“We were all shocked and saddened. There was a lot of anxiety about finding the killer,” said Ruth Gerstner, special assistant in Internal Communications and director of News Services for OSU at the time of Blankenship’s death.
A candlelight vigil was held for Blankenship, Gerstner said. Blankenship’s funeral was held at Mershon Auditorium on Feb 14, 1997.
“There was a huge turnout at the funeral. It brought people together and made people appreciate police officers a little more,” Gerstner said.
Michalec said Blankenship’s wife, Chris, and two daughters were resilient after losing their loved one. Niciu was deeply affected by Blankenship’s death and has since left the Columbus area. She is retired on disability from University Police.
There were more than 1,000 students at the funeral, said Gretchen Metzelaars, director of administration at the Wexner Center.
“There was a five-mile line of police cars up High Street for the funeral procession,” Metzelaars said. “All of the Big 10 universities sent officers.”
Months after his death, flowers were left in front of the Wexner, Metzelaars said.
Michalec said flowers are still left there each year on the anniversary of Blankenship’s death. The Fraternal Order of Police also leaves a wreath each year at a memorial wall built outside of the police station.
Police headquarters were moved from Millikin Road to the current site at 901 Woody Hayes Drive. The dedication ceremony for the new building and the Michael Blankenship Memorial was on Sept. 23, 1997. More than 5,000 students signed a petition to name the building after the fallen officer, Michalec said.
Since Blankenship’s death, University Police now have to complete training in dealing with armed assailants, Michalec said.
Patrick Maughan, security director at the Wexner Center, said the Wexner has always had more security than any other building on campus.
“You can go into any other building and not have the same security,” Maughan said. “What was such a shock was that people thought if it could happen here, it could happen anywhere on campus.”
The Wexner Center has added color, digital cameras to its already extensive security.
A memorial is on display at police headquarters. Blankenship’s badge – with its retired badge number, 303 – and posthumous awards are on display behind a glass case. There is also a memorial wall outside of the police station containing a plaque with a poem written by an anonymous student, Michalec said.
Blankenship also has been remembered at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. His name is among thousands of officers in the U.S. who were killed in the line of duty. An etching of his name and artist’s rendering also adorn the halls of the police station.
But University Police do not need memorials to remember the significance of Feb. 10.
“It is a date you never forget,” Michalec said. “We never realized the support we have.”
