One of 3 officers shot in targeted attack in Ohio dies
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Payne remained in critical condition Thursday, while the third officer, Peter Gale, 51, was treated for a hand wound and was released from a hospital in Lorain, according to Jack Bradley, the city's mayor.
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On Thursday, investigators said they believed that Parker had acted alone. It was not clear what had prompted the attack.
This aerial image taken from video provided by WEWS shows police working at the scene of Wednesday's shooting.
Uncredited/Associated Press
Police said the gunfire erupted around 1 p.m. near an industrial park in Lorain, a city on the shore of Lake Erie about 33 miles west of Cleveland. Two of the officers had just bought pizza and were parked side by side in their patrol cars on a dead-end street when the gunman targeted them, authorities said.
'He was laying in wait and opened fire with multiple rounds at both of the officers, who were sitting in their vehicles,' Michael Failing, the acting police chief of Lorain, said at a news conference Wednesday.
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The gunman had several high-powered rifles, handguns and ammunition magazines with him, authorities said.
'I have no idea who he is, and I don't care,' Failing said Wednesday.
The police department in Elyria, Ohio, a neighboring city, was brought in to investigate the shooting because officers were involved, a common practice.
'This is a difficult day for the Lorain Police Department and the law enforcement community,' James Welsh, the Elyria police chief, said at a separate news conference Wednesday.
Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio said in a statement Wednesday evening that the shooting was a reminder of the dangers law enforcement officers face.
'I have been briefed on the horrible officer-involved shooting in Lorain, which appears to have been a targeted attack on law enforcement,' DeWine said.
In social media posts Wednesday, elected officials condemned the violence.
'There is no place for this kind of violence in our state or country,' Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio,
I'm deeply saddened to hear that Officer Phillip Wagner, who was ambushed yesterday in northeast Ohio, has passed away. Tina and I continue to pray for Officer Wagner's family, as well as for the other victims, Officers Brent Payne and Peter Gale.
Violence against the heroes who…
— Senator Jon Husted (@SenJonHusted)
Sen. Bernie Moreno, Ohio's other U.S. senator, wrote on social media that his team was monitoring the situation.
'Attacks on law enforcement are unacceptable,' Moreno, also a Republican, said.
Lorain has a population of 65,330 people, according to census data. The Lorain Police Department has about 100 officers, Bradley said. After the attack, Lorain officials closed city hall and the municipal court for the rest of the week.
This article originally appeared in
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