Dramatic shootout: German Township Patrolman Jeremy Blum is wounded in a police shootout with a gunman at Enon Beach trailer park near Enon, Ohio. Blum was shot in the arm and shoulder
A female police officer has been shot dead and another wounded after a dramatic trailer park gun battle in Ohio.
Mother-of-two Suzanne Waughtel Hopper, 40, had driven to the trailer park after
reports came in of shots being fired in the Enon Beach area late
Saturday morning.
It was as she examined the area and took photos that the door of a nearby silver
trailer opened and a man fired a single shot from a shotgun.
Deputy Hopper was killed instantly by the blast.
The officer who had accompanied there desperately tried to reach her body
as a gun battle then ensued at the trailer park just southwest of
Springfield and about 50 miles west of Columbus.
Sergeant Dustin White had been interviewing a family whose trailer had been shot at when he heard his partner scream.
Enon Beach resident Angelina Inman said: 'He was itching to get her. He kept
radioing in, can he please get her, and he was told no because it
wasn't secure. You could see him crying - he wanted to get her, he
wanted to get her bad.'
The as-yet unidentified man fired again on police who responded to the
'officer down' call, sparking a furious gun battle as officers returned
fire with handguns and automatic weapons.
It was during this firefight that Patrolman Jeremy Blum, 32, was also wounded.
In graphic video footage of the shootout, Patrolman Blum can be seen
screaming in pain, throwing his weapon in front of him and crawling
away from his advanced position at the scene.
Officer Hopper's body, lying in front of the trailer on her back, has been blurred in the footage.
Gunfight
Withering fire: Patrolman Blum can be seen crouching in this photo, as police officers train fire on the silver
trailer ahead of them. The dead body of Deputy Suzanne Hopper lies just ahead of them
Blum was flown to Miami Valley Hospital, where he was listed in fair condition.
The shooter, who has not been named until relatives have been notified, was
also killed in the gunfight as officers from several different
agencies converged on the scene.
Clark County Sheriff Gene A Kelley, who held an emotional press conference at the scene, said he was sure
the gunman had been brought down by the hail of police bullets.
With his voice breaking and fighting back tears, Sheriff Kelley said: 'When
we entered the trailer the suspect was deceased, apparently from the
exchange of gunfire.
'Our deputy never had the opportunity to return fire or take cover. She was
an outstanding deputy, is married and a parent of two children.
'This is my worst day in 24 years as a sheriff of Clark County.'
Two Enon Beach residents first made the call to police, saying they were
inside their mobile home when they were shaken by a boom and spraying
glass.
A shot had been fired at their trailer, shattering a window.
Deputy Hopper,
described as a diligent and careful investigator, attended the scene
and was taking photos of the scene when a man in a nearby silver trailer
emerged, pointed his shotgun at the deputy and fired.
Enon Beach locater
Gunfight
Returning fire: Patrolman Blum, crouched with a handgun, and a heavily armed deputy fire a hail of bullets at the suspect's trailer
gunfight
Officer down: Patrolman Blum reacts after being hit in the arm and shoulder by a shogun blast. The deputy behind him also starts to take cover
gunfight
Rushed to hospital: The patrolman is pushed towards a waiting ambulance, where he was then flown to Miami Valley Hospital, where he is recovering
Chelsea Bagley, a 15-year-old girl who lives in the trailer park, said she knew the shooting suspect, and
revealed that he had a fierce temper. She said: 'He was a quiet person,
but if you made him mad - he wasn't very pleasant.
Another resident, John Burkhardt, said police had tried for several minutes to concvince the suspect to surrender.
He said: 'They give him 25 chances to walk out of there. They were begging him to come out, but he wouldn't come out.'
, cop is a moron anyway, gonna have a seat next to a propane tank and bust his gun, all of them are idiots.
. I guess God needed another angel.
because all cops aren't bad people. I know cops, black and white that are good people. We've all been stopped by cops when we were in the wrong (illegal u-turns, speeding, etc.) and the cop has let us off with a warning. Some of us have been helped by cops. One thread from a couple of years ago a couple of dudes said that cops have helped them when they had car trouble or ran out of gas. R.I.P. to that deputy.
