RIVERSIDE POLICE SEEK SUSPECT IN SHOOTING
Beavercreek man suspected of killing man in front of his sons.
— A man with a history of mental illness and addictions is suspected of killing a 35-year-old Beavercreek man in front of his three sons Tuesday in Riverside, according to Riverside police and court documents.
Sterling H. Roberts, 34, is the suspect in the shooting death of Robert Caldwell, said Riverside Police Chief Frank Robinson. Roberts was subject to an arrest warrant issued Aug. 3 for a probation violation, according to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court documents.
Police were searching for Roberts on Wednesday after they were dispatched about 6 p.m. Tuesday to 4134 Linden Ave. on a reported active shooter situation.
An employee at the nearby Bob Evans, 1285 Woodman Drive, said a boy ran to the restaurant and told workers there that someone shot his father as he and his dad were leaving the building. The employee said the boy told them he ran to the restaurant when the shooter walked toward his father and opened fire.
“Multiple calls were coming in that we had an active shooter on the grounds,” said Riverside police Maj. Matt Sturgeon.
Police found Caldwell shot to death in a parking lot. His three sons — age 15, 13 and 8 — were with him, the major said, and police released them to Montgomery County Children Services.
In an interview Wednesday, Chief Robinson confirmed they are pursuing leads that the
shooting may be connected to child custody issues.
Court records show Roberts had a daughter in May 2016 with a former girlfriend, who is Caldwell’s ex-wife.
In May, Roberts was sentenced to five years’ probation for having weapons while under disability, according to court documents.
In January, a “visibly upset” Roberts told a Centerville police officer “that he had thought about killing himself ” because he had just broken up with his unnamed girlfriend, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by Roberts’ attorney, Lawrence W. Henke III.
An officer found a Taurus .38 special revolver in Roberts’ jeans pocket, according to the memorandum. He was taken to a local hospital without incident.
The sentencing memo from Roberts’ attorney states Roberts has been convicted previously for burglary in 2003 and 2006, domestic violence in 2005, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (deception to obtain a dangerous drug) in 2012, and criminal damaging in 2015.
Roberts also has borderline personality disorder, paranoia, schizophrenia and depression, and has been addicted to alcohol since his teens, opioids, heroin and meth, according to the memorandum from Roberts’ lawyer.
At the time of his arrest in January, Roberts was the minority owner of a Hamilton restoration and remodeling company, according to the memorandum.