Ron Welch
Muskingum County Prosecutor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
2024 Zanesville City Hall Shooter Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison
(Zanesville, Ohio) – September 2, 2025
Patrick D. Foraker, 40, of Zanesville, appeared before Judge Kelly Cottrill in the Muskingum County Court of Common Pleas to receive sentencing for charges stemming from Foraker shooting into the City Hall last year.
Foraker’s charges include three counts of Felonious Assault with a Firearm and one count of Inducing Panic.
At the sentencing hearing the State recommended the maximum prison sentence of 31 ½ years. The State’s recommendation was based on the severity of the crime and the fact that there were multiple victims working inside the office into which Foraker shot. Muskingum County Prosecutor Ron Welch stated “I am thankful no one was injured or killed during this shooting. We felt the actions of the shooter deserved a maximum sentence but understand sentencing is the job of the court not the prosecutor.”
Judge Cottrill, after hearing sentencing arguments from both the State and the defense, sentenced Foraker to fourteen (14) years in prison, 6 of those years being mandatory. Foraker will also be on post-release control for eighteen months, up to three years following his release.
Case Summary:
On February 12, 2024, Patrick Foraker arrived at Zanesville City Hall angry about his water being turned off for failure to pay his bill. Following an outburst at the payment window, Foraker threw a yellow billing slip through the clerk’s window slot and walked away. After Foraker left the window, a clerk went over to pick up the slip and as she bent down to retrieve the billing slip Foraker fired three shots directly into the clerk’s window.
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