LIBERTY — A Sept. 1 car crash at Tibbetts Wick Road and Belmont Avenue occurred because the man behind the wheel had shot himself in the head, according to an Ohio State Highway Patrol report.

The driver “suffered an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head which resulted in a vehicle crash,” the heavily redacted report states.

Richard L. Cooper, 49, of Columbus, was identified as the driver in a state patrol news release Sept. 2.

The report requested by the newspaper and obtained Friday states a Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun with a 15-round capacity magazine and one round was found on the driver’s seat. It states this weapon was owned by Cooper.

Also found on the front passenger floor was a Wolf 9mm Luger with two live rounds, the report states. A spent casing from the Luger was located on the front passenger floor. There was one live round.

Gunshot residue was collected from the vehicle and the man’s hands, it adds.

A digital camcorder was on the front passenger seat.

Two cars were involved in a collision at the intersection around 8 a.m. A white 2023 Honda Accord driven by Cooper was traveling north on state Route 193, but traveled off the left side of the road and struck a ditch.

The car then crashed into a black 2010 Mercedes GLK 350 that was stopped at the red light traveling east on Tibbetts Wick Road.

Cooper was ejected from his car; the patrol said he was not wearing a seat belt.

The Trumbull County Coroner’s Office was contacted by the patrol and an examiner found the wound to the head. Liberty police also responded. There was a facial entry and exit wound, the report states.

The driver of the Mercedes, according to the Sept. 2 release, was Chasidy L. Ballack, 34, of Lowellville. She and the three juveniles in her car were all wearing their seatbelts and were not injured, the patrol report states.