More details have come out about the domestic violence incident in Warren County this week that left one man dead and a Clearcreek Township Police officer in critical condition.
Here's the latest information:
- Mark Evers, 65, is dead. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds, including to his head and his torso.
- Clearcreek Township Police Officer Eric Ney was shot in the face by Evers during the incident. Police Chief John Terrill said Ney's injuries are severe, but he has regained consciousness. Ney was on his feet and able to brush his teeth on Thursday.
- Clearcreek officers had previously dealt with Evers. He had answered the door with a gun in hand and also had a dispute with a neighbor where he was holding a rifle. Terrill said the officers who responded to Tuesday's incident were aware of his history with weapons. Evers was allowed to have firearms on his private property.
- Details on the type of gun used by Evers, and if it was legally obtained, will be released when the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations is done examining the shooting.
What lead up to the shooting:
- Clearcreek police said they received a report from Evers' wife that he was ramming his ATV into her car after a dispute about the way she had wrapped a horse's leg. Evers was a successful harness racing horse trainer-driver and owned businesses related to the sport.
- Ney responded to the domestic violence call with Sgt. Nicole Cordero (both have been with the department since around 2008).
- When Cordero and Ney arrived to the property in Lebanon, police said Evers had driven his ATV into nearby farmland. The officers then spoke to Evers on the phone for about an hour and eventually convinced him to come back to the front of the property near where they had parked their cruiser on the driveway.
- Cordero approached Evers, who was still in the running ATV, to have him fill out an incident report. She asked Evers to turn off the vehicle. Evers did not. He instead revved the engine. The officers then told him that they intended to arrest him for domestic violence.
- Evers then got out of the vehicle and pulled out a gun. Cordero told Evers repeatedly to put the gun away before pulling out her own weapon. A number of shots were then fired. Ney was shot in the face and Evers was shot multiple times. Cordero was not injured. The whole incident lasted about 15 seconds.
- A distraught man ran toward the officers after the shooting. Terrill said he is an employee who works on the property.
More details:
- The video of the shooting came from a police cruiser camera. Clearcreek officers do not wear body cameras.
- Cordero shot Evers during the incident, but he might have also shot himself. The incident has not officially been ruled as a suicide or a homicide. BCI and coroner investigations about the sequencing of the gunshots are pending.
- Cordero is on administrative leave. She has been offered counseling, as have the other officers in the department who responded. Cordero coordinates the township's annual National Night Out and runs its Safety Town program.
- The Warren County Sheriff's Office provided support to Clearcreek Township in the first 24 hours after the incident. The township is now back up and running as normal.
- This is the first time a Clearcreek Township officer has been shot since the department was founded in 1975.
- Terrill said he hopes the BCI investigation will reveal Evers' mindset on the night of the shooting.
Chris Welter is a reporter and corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms.
