(10-23-26) A Tri-State high school football game is being played at a different stadium tonight — not because of weather, but because of a manhunt.
Friday night’s Week 10 game between Clermont Northeastern and East Clinton has been moved to Clermont Northeastern High School, kickoff still 7 p.m. It was originally scheduled at East Clinton (Sabina, Ohio), which sits about six miles from the scene of a fatal shooting that has authorities searching for an armed suspect.
Deputies were called around 8:05 p.m. Thursday to the 13000 block of State Route 72 near Leesburg, close to the Clinton County line, where a 41-year-old man was found dead. His name hasn’t been released. The Highland County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspect as Cassen Kelso Conaway, 20, who fled before deputies arrived and remains at large; FOX19 reports he’s considered armed and dangerous.
The search ran all night and continued today — sheriff’s K-9 and drone units, the county Special Response Team, State Highway Patrol aviation, the Ohio BCI, deputies from Clinton and Fayette counties, and Greenfield and Leesburg police.
One neighbor said of the overnight search:
“They had drones out, helicopters. Sounded like a runway last night.”
Sheriff Randy Sanders said Friday morning that investigators still don’t know what led to the shooting and the search remains active — so with the suspect still at large, the game was moved away from East Clinton out of caution.
Anyone with information can call the Highland County Sheriff’s Office at (937) 393-1421 — and anyone who sees Conaway is urged not to approach him.
