ENON, Ohio — A sheriff’s deputy investigating a report of gunfire at a trailer park was shot dead Saturday, and the shooting suspect was killed after a gun battle with police, authorities said. A police officer was wounded.
Deputy Suzanne Hopper, who was married last year and had two children, was shot as she tried to photograph a footprint in the Enon Beach mobile-home park, about 50 miles west of Columbus, said Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly.
“Our deputy never had the opportunity to return fire or take cover,” Kelly said at a news conference.
Police officers were trying to talk to the shooting suspect when he fired on them from inside a trailer, and a German Township officer was wounded in a large exchange of gunfire, Kelly said. There were “many, many, many” shots fired by the suspect and eight officers, he said.
The wounded officer, Jeremy Blum, was hospitalized in fair condition, a hospital supervisor said.
Enon Beach resident Angelina Inman said she looked out of her trailer to see Hopper on the ground. She watched as another officer tried to reach her body.
“He was itching to get her,” Inman said. “He kept radioing in, can he please get her, and he was told no because it wasn’t secure. You could see that male sheriff crying. He wanted to get her; he wanted to get her bad.”
Authorities are investigating whether police gunfire killed the suspect, said Kelly, who has been sheriff for 24 years.
“This,” he said, “is the worst day of my entire law enforcement career.”
He said he had hired the slain deputy and had known her since the police academy. He called her “just a good person, an outstanding deputy,” and said she was the first officer he has lost.
A girl who lives in the trailer park said she knew the shooting suspect had a temper.
“He was a quiet person, but if you made him mad — he wasn’t very pleasant,” said 15-year-old Chelsea Bagley.
Enon Beach sits near Interstate 70 and acts as a seasonal campground with some summer-only residents and others who live there year-round. A portion of the highway was closed twice for a total of about an hour because the trailer park is so close to the road.
Suzanne Hopper:
The deputy was married last year and had two children. Hopper, 40, was a 12- year veteran and a former officer of the year. “Her personnel file is filled with accolades and commendations and always service before self,” Sheriff Gene Kelly said.
