Ohio officer dies after shooter lying in wait ambushed police who parked to eat lunch

Police said investigators found multiple rifles, handguns and loaded magazines in and around Parker’s vehicle, along with “a significant quantity of improvised explosive materials.”

An autopsy on Parker showed he was killed by multiple gunshot wounds fired by police officers, said the Loraine County coroner, Dr. Frank Miller.

Parker’s bullet wounds “are not self-inflicted,” Miller said in phone interview after the Thursday autopsy. “It’s during the gunbattle.” He said toxicology test results will take a few weeks.

A second officer suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was in critical condition after being flown to the trauma center, according to a statement issued by the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police. The third officer was shot in the hand, according to Lorain’s acting police chief.

It’s not clear why the gunman opened fire on the officers.

Authorities say they believe Parker acted alone when he used the rifle to shoot the officers. In addition to Wagner, the officers are Peter Gale, 51; and Brent Payne, 47.

Just before the ambush, Wagner and Gale parked to eat pizza on a dead-end street in a remote, undeveloped area of Lorain that overlooks a river and a steel mill. Payne was shot after responding to their call, acting Police Chief Michael Failing said.

“Officers returned fire during the exchange, which ultimately resulted in Parker sustaining a fatal injury,” according to statement from police in nearby Elyria who are handling the investigation.

Investigators found multiple rifles, handguns and loaded magazines in and around Parker’s vehicle, along with a significant amount of improvised explosive materials that were removed and safely detonated, Elyria police said.

Parker lived with his parents in a tidy, two-story brick home in Lorain, a city along Lake Erie west of Cleveland. Neighbors said Thursday they often saw him walking the family dog to the nearby beach, but he rarely engaged in conversation, and never saw him with friends.

“He was just an odd character,” said Jody Burnsworth, who has lived next door to the family since 2012. “He wasn’t rude. He was just always quiet. When he walked he looked like he was always ultra-focused on something.”

She said she always had an uneasy feeling about him, never opening her bedroom drapes on the side of the house that faced his home.

“I hate that I thought that,” she said. “He kind of gave me the creeps. Sometimes he would just look at you in an odd way.”

Parker’s home was searched for more than five hours Wednesday night. Officers broke an upstairs window and flew in a drone during the search, Burnsworth said.

Parker’s father grew up in the house, and neighbors described the couple as very sweet.

Burnsworth said that during the past year Parker was hired at the post office but soon quit because the work was too difficult.

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Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

John Seewer And Mark Scolforo, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Ohio officer dies after shooter lying in wait ambushed police who parked to eat lunch

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