Coroner: Lorain police shooter was hospitalized for psychosis as a teen

The Lorain man who shot three city police officers last month, killing one of them before he was killed by police, was treated for psychosis at a hospital when he was a teenager, according to the Lorain County Coroner's Office. Michael J. Parker was admitted to a hospital for psychiatric treatment "more than a decade ago," Coroner Dr. Frank Miller said Friday. It was one hospitalization in 2012 or 2013 and was revealed in Parker's medical history, which Miller reviewed as part of the shooter's autopsy, he said. Born in 1997, Parker would have been 15 or 16 years old at the time. He was 28 when he died. Armed with multiple guns and at least 100 pounds of explosives, Parker ambushed Lorain police officers Phillip Wagner, 35, and Peter Gale, 51, as they sat eating lunch in their cruisers in the Colorado Avenue Industrial Park just after 1 p.m. July 23. Wagner was shot in the head and died the following day at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland. The U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Arizona native was married with three children. Gale was shot in the hand, treated and released from Mercy Health Hospital in Lorain. Officer Brent Payne, 47, was seriously wounded as he responded to help his fellow officers. He underwent surgery at MetroHealth and was released July 26. Responding officers shot Parker at least 12 times, killing him. He had rifles, handguns, improvised explosive devices and ammunition in his car at the scene, investigators said. Toxicology testing following Parker's autopsy found no alcohol or drugs in his system, Miller previously said. His medical history also showed a brain injury from more than a decade ago, but Miller couldn't say if that injury contributed to the eventual shooting. Parker had only several minor traffic offenses on his record and no significant social media presence. The Chronicle-Telegram hasn't been able to verify if Parker had a job at the time of the shooting nor where he attended school. The motive for the shooting will be part of the Elyria Police Department's investigation into what happened that day. "We don't know what he (Parker) was up to," Miller said. "There's no note or book or text, no explanation." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.