
Amber Gillenwater/photo
A fatal shooting occured on Thursday evening near this church at the intersection of Hannan Trace Road and Elliott Road in Harrison Township. The suspect, Bruce A. Hively, 56, who had been residing in Point Pleasant, reportedly owned property on Elliott Road. The suspect and the victim, Charles T. Addis, 18, reportedly had an ongoing dispute.
GALLIPOLIS — A Crown City man accused of gunning down an 18-year-old student Thursday evening in Gallia County is currently being held without bond and will appear in court on Monday.
Bruce A. Hively, 56, is facing charges of murder and aggravated murder, both special category felonies, following a fatal shooting that resulted in the death of Charles T. Addis, 18, at approximately 6:12 p.m. on Thursday evening.
The shooting reportedly occurred at the intersection of Hannan Trace Road and Elliott Road in Harrison Township in the vicinity of Dickey Chapel Church.
The two criminal complaints outlining the charges were signed by Gallia County Sheriff Joe Browning and filed with the Gallipolis Municipal Court on Friday afternoon. They read, in part, “According to witness statements Charles Addis, Anthony Knepper and Aaron Addis were at said location when Bruce Hively drove past them and then turned around and came back to where they were. Bruce Hively exited the vehicle where a confrontation ensued between himself and the victim, Charles Addis and Anthony Knepper and Aaron Addis which resulted in the Defendant, Bruce Hively, shooting and killing Charles Addis.”
The victim, who was reportedly a student at Buckeye Hills Career Center and had a listed address on Hannan Trace Road, was shot four times by Hively, according to the complaints, twice while the victim was still standing and twice while he lay on the ground.
While details surrounding the shooting remain hazy, Browning reported of an ongoing dispute between the victim and the suspect.
The charges indicate Hively’s address as 510 Elliott Road, however, according to Browning, while the suspect does own property on Elliott Road, he and his wife have been residing in Point Pleasant, W.Va.
Hively also, reportedly, had an Ohio Concealed Carry Permit.
Agents with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI) are assisting in the investigation of this incident, and, were, as of Friday afternoon, searching both the vehicle that the defendant had been driving just prior to the shooting, as well as the vehicle that the victim and his party had been traveling in.
Hively was taken into custody without incident following the shooting and is currently being held in the Gallia County Jail.
The defendant has retained defense attorney Charles Knight as counsel, and, according to officials with the municipal court, Hively has requested than an initial hearing in this case be held on Monday.
A hearing is tentatively scheduled for 10 a.m. on Monday in the municipal courtroom before Judge Margaret Evans.












