A man with a high-powered rifle and a vehicle filled with weapons ambushed two Lorain police officers eating lunch in their car on a remote street, wounding both along with another officer who heard their call for help, authorities said Thursday.
The shooter was killed after exchanging gunfire with the Lorain police officers Wednesday afternoon. The Lorain County Coroner’s Office identified the gunman as 28-year-old Michael Joseph Parker, of Lorain.
Two of the officers suffered multiple gunshot wounds and were in critical condition after being flown to a trauma center, according to a statement issued by the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police. The other 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 — Phillip Wagner, 35; 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 overlooking 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 along the lake. 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.
