arrives and tries to persuade the gunman to give up. she called him. had a nickname. bubby, come out, come out. bubby, i love you. but her pleas go unanswered. he never responded. his only response was with his shotgun. he opens fire and an intense gun battle erupts. the exchange of fire from only a few yards apart is up close and personal. patrolman jeremy blum is hit in the arm. sheriff kelly scrambles into the line of fire and pulls the patrolman back to safety. i grabbed him, and pulled him back behind the camper to cover, and deputies continued to return fire.
disbelief, anger, to some extent hatred. patrolman blum pulls through, but the loss of hopper, one of the squad s most beloved deputies, is a crushing blow. this is the worst day in my 24 years as a sheriff of clark county. the gunman, michael ferryman, had a history of mental instability and violence. in 2001, he was involved in another shoot-out with officers in another ohio trailer park. no one was hurt and ferryman was found not guilty by reason of insanity. fast forward to 2011 and ferryman is living at another campground, monitored by the county, but somehow gets ahold of a gun. we had no knowledge of that. and i m still upset about that. hopper was a model officer and an active presence in the community.
hold your fire! hold your fire! officers are ordered to cease-fire while patrolman blum receives medical attention and is airlifted to the hospital. as the team regroups, sheriff kelly tries one more time to convince ferryman to give himself up. come on out. throw your weapons down and your hands up. michael, it s time to stop. but there s no answer. a s.w.a.t. team and an armored vehicle move in, expecting another shoot-out. instead, they find the gunman already dead in his trailer from the exchange of fire. just outside is the lifeless body of deputy suzanne hopper. she s been shot in the head. it s just a crash of emotions.
someone you ve worked side by side with. the shooter s girlfriend arrives and tries to persuade the gunman to give up. she called him. had a nickname. bubby, come out, come out. bubby, i love you. but her pleas go unanswered. he never responded. his only response was with his shotgun. he opens fire and an intense gun battle erupts. the exchange of fire from only a few yards apart is up close and personal. patrolman jeremy blum is hit in the arm. sheriff kelly scrambles into the line of fire and pulls the patrolman back to safety. i grabbed them and pulled him back behind the camper to cover and deputies continued to return fire.
hatred. patrolman blum pulls through, but the loss of hopper, one of the squad s most beloved deputies is a crushing blow. this is the worst day in my 24 years as a sheriff of clark county. the gunman, michael ferryman, had a history of mental instability and violence. in 2001, he was involved in another shoot-out with officers in another ohio trailer park. no one was hurt and ferryman was found not guilty by reason of insanity. fast forward to 2011 and ferryman is living at another campground, monitored by the county but somehow gets ahold of a gun. we had no knowledge of that. and i m still upset about that. hopper was a model officer and an active presence in the