Authorities identify Ohio man who died in shooting after he wounded 3 police officers
Jul 24, 2025, 9:07 AM | Updated: 5:44 pm
LORAIN, Ohio (AP) — The shooter of three Ohio police officers in an ambush attack was identified Thursday by the Lorain County Coroner’s Office as 28-year-old Michael Parker.
The coroner’s office said an autopsy is planned for Parker, who died as a result of the shooting in Lorain on Wednesday afternoon.
Authorities say they believe Parker acted alone when he used a high-powered rifle to shoot and wound three city officers — Phillip Wagner, 35; Peter Gale, 51; and Brent Payne, 47.
Parker’s home was searched for more than five hours Wednesday night. A neighbor said officers broke an upstairs window and flew in a drone during the search.
Just before the ambush, Wagner and Gale had parked to eat pizza on a dead-end street in an undeveloped industrial area in Lorain, a city west of Cleveland on Lake Erie. Payne was shot after responding to their call for help, acting Police Chief Michael Failing said.
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, Failing said.
It was not immediately clear whether Parker was killed by return fire or killed himself, police said.
Failing said Parker was found to have had “an arsenal” of weapons with him.
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.”
Burnsworth said that during the past year he was hired at the post office but soon quit because the work was too difficult.
During the search, a tactical vehicle pulled up outside the house and officers broke out an upstairs window before flying a drone inside, Burnsworth said.
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Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
