'A deliberate and evil plan:' Elyria police release details on ambush of Lorain officers (UPDATED)

ELYRIA — The man who shot three Lorain police officers, killing one, in July drove alongside officers and opened fire, before meticulously preparing an ambush and waiting for more officers to arrive, according to information released Thursday. Elyria Police provided additional information after a months-long investigation into an ambush against Lorain officers by shooter Michael Parker, 28, of Lorain, that left Lorain Officer Phillip Wagner dead and officers Brent Payne and Peter Gale injured on July 23. Parker, who had a history of mental illness, was shot and killed by responding officers after a heavy exchange of gunfire. Elyria police investigated the shooting, splitting it into two incidents: Wagner's homicide and Parker's shooting death by Lorain police. "(Parker) was armed with a significant cache of weaponry, ammunition and explosives," Elyria police Chief James Welsh said at the press conference. "The evidence confirms that Parker had a deliberate and evil plan to inflict mass casualties upon humanity. Thanks to the heroic actions of Lorain police officers, a far greater tragedy was averted that day." 'Not a spontaneous act'Even after months of investigation, an exact motive for Parker's actions remains unclear. He had little prior contact with law enforcement, save several misdemeanor traffic tickets, including a citation issued by Wagner in November 2022 for leaving the scene of a crash and going left of center. Parker pleaded no contest to the left-of-center charge, and the other charge was dismissed in May 2023 in Lorain Municipal Court. Elyria police Capt. Bill Lantz said there is no evidence to support that Wagner or Gale were Parker's intended targets. Despite the lack of motive, it is clear Parker had a plan, Lantz said. "While that plan has not been uncovered through a note or through a manifesto, the evidence and the capabilities show us that he had something planned," the captain said. "... This was not a spontaneous act." Parker did not have military training, but had a longstanding fascination with firearms, Lantz said. The 28-year-old purchased his first gun in 2019, and bought the firearms used in the shooting between 2021 and 2025. He was unemployed and lived with his parents at the time of the shooting. Parker reportedly used credit cards and a loan to purchase the guns and ammunition found with him on July 23, Lantz said. Parker's family knew he had purchased firearms, Lantz said, but were unaware of the arsenal the man had at his disposal. "With a situation like this, there's always going to be shock, dismay and not understanding — it takes a little bit of time to digest that information," Lantz said of the shooter's family. Interviews with Parker's family and associates saw the man described as quiet and introverted. Lorain County Coroner Dr. Frank Miller said there were no alcohol, illicit drugs or medications in Parker's system at the time of his death. The shooter had little available medical history after 2016, Miller said, but added that he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and hospitalized in 2012 or 2013. Born in 1997, Parker would have been 15 or 16 years old at the time. Parker's mental health diagnosis would not have precluded him from legally purchasing the 10 firearms he had at the time of the attack. Under state and federal law, a mental health diagnosis does not bar a person from purchasing firearms unless they have been declared mentally incompetent or committed to a mental institution by a court. TimelineIt was about 20 minutes from the time Wagner and Gale pulled into the Colorado Avenue Industrial Park for lunch to when Parker was killed by responding officers. The Colorado Avenue Industrial Park on Lorain's east side is an empty cul-de-sac off Colorado Avenue frequented by residents who enjoy its nearby wooded trails for biking or jogging and it is also often used by Lorain police to stop for lunch or to write reports. Lantz said there was no evidence Parker had scoped out or frequented the site prior to the shooting. Police reconstructed Parker's movements throughout the city before the shooting, Lantz said, but he declined to release further details of those movements on Thursday. The area has one way in, one way out and ends at a cul-de-sac near the Black River. Gale picked up lunch from the nearby Marco's Pizza and parked at the end of River Bend Drive at 12:46 p.m. July 23. Wagner arrived a few minutes later and pulled beside Gale. The pair were eating lunch when Parker, driving a silver 2007 Toyota Camry, drove into the center of the River Bend Drive cul-de-sac and began shooting at the two officers in their vehicles at 1:03 p.m. with a rifle. He shot Wagner in the head, incapacitating the officer immediately. Gale drove back up River Bend Drive and radioed for help. From 1:04 p.m. to 1:07 p.m. Parker repositioned his vehicle. He backed up into a gravel area just off the south end of the paved cul-de-sac and began setting up various rifles with scopes and other equipment, including thousands of rounds of additional ammunition. Payne responded to the scene at 1:07 p.m. Radio traffic and dash-camera footage shows Payne meet up with Gale, and Gale pulled behind Payne's cruiser. The pair parked about 500 feet away from where Parker had staged at the end of the roadway. "He's got a rifle, he's got a rifle, get down," Gale said over the radio, as Payne ran around the back of his cruiser, handgun drawn. "His intent was to retrieve his patrol rifle," Lantz said. "He never got the chance." Seconds later, Parker opened fire on them both. Dash camera footage from Payne's cruiser shows rifle rounds piercing the windshield, leaving ragged holes and spiderwebbing the glass. Lorain police vehicles' windshields are not bulletproof. Payne was out of the car by the time Parker began shooting at his vehicle. In the first volley from his new position, Parker fired at least 25 rounds at the officers and their cruisers, Elyria police Capt. Bill Lantz said during Thursday's press conference. Between 1:08 and 1:10 p.m., according to Payne's camera footage, the eight-year department veteran runs toward a tree line off River Bend Drive while shots ring out behind him. He somersaults on the roadway, and when he stands up, turns back toward where Parker is shooting. To his right, Gale can be seen driving his cruiser away after he had been shot in the hand. He was transported to Mercy Health - Lorain by fellow officers. Payne radioed his position to responding officers who began to pour into the Industrial Park. "Where you saw me fall, I moved into the woods … get me the f*** out of here," Payne said in previously transcribed radio traffic. Detectives Corey Shoemaker and Cielo Rodriguez, with FBI Special Agent John Thompson, arrived around 1:10 p.m. In interviews with Shoemaker, Rodriguez and Thompson, they told Elyria police they heard incoming gunshots and saw rounds hit the ground and travel through the trees as they moved their SUV to where Payne lay injured. Payne guided them to his location and the group provided first aid — including a life-saving tourniquet — before driving him out of the area in the back of a cruiser and drove him to Mercy Health - Lorain, where he was flown to Cleveland's MetroHealth Medical Center for further treatment. "While tending to him and providing medical care (Payne) is still directing activities of other people before they pull him out," Lantz said. "He's looking out for his fellow officers, saying, 'Do we have cover before you pull me out?' … He's been shot, he's bleeding profusely and as (a cruiser) passes him he shares 'let him know he's rolling into it, have him stop right there.' … He's doing his role as a leader within their organization." While Shoemaker, Rodriguez and Thompson tend to Payne another SUV with Lts. Eric Manicsic and Jaime Ball, and Detectives Matthew Hartman and Sanders Sanchez pull in behind Payne's cruiser around 1:11 p.m. They are followed by another SUV carrying Brent Payne's brother, Detective Craig Payne and Sgt. Ryan Vrooman. The six responding officers move forward toward Parker, who continues to shoot at them. The first shot fired by those responding officers at Parker was 1:11:11 p.m. The last shot fired at Parker was less than a minute later. Parker was shot numerous times by officers and declared dead at the scene just before 1:20 p.m. A tactical team removed Wagner from his cruiser and drove him to Mercy Health, where he was flown to MetroHealth. The 35-year-old died the next day of his injuries, leaving behind a wife and three young children. The scene stretched into Cromwell Park and along the Black River, where police searched for a potential second shooter. A helicopter from the State Highway Patrol, as well as drones, buzzed overhead while boats launched from the Black River Wharf off West 14th Street and searched waterways. Elyria police confirmed Parker acted alone. Unpacking the carnageWith Parker dead and the injured officers withdrawn for medical attention, Lorain police secured the scene before handing it over to Elyria police for investigation. Because the incident included an officer-involved shooting, an outside agency was required to investigate. The Lorain County Sheriff's Office Explosives Unit found two 50-pound containers of tannerite in the back seat of Parker's Camry. "In looking into the vehicle, they observed baggage that caused concern and they requested (the) Lorain County Bomb Squad respond to the scene," Lantz said. Tannerite is a binary explosive made from a combination of oxidizers, usually ammonium nitrate, and a metal fuel such as aluminum often used as an explosive target. When combined and struck with a high-velocity bullet, this mixture creates a fire explosion. It is not regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and is legal to buy in Ohio as separate components, though mixing them to form the explosive without a permit is a felony. The tannerite Parker had in his car was destroyed at the investigation site by the bomb squad, and the explosion created by this disposal was heard as far away as Avon Lake. Lantz said if the explosives had been detonated either during the gun fight or at some other location in the city "It would have been a nightmare." "It's my understanding, in talking with bomb technicians, they said it would have been the equivalent of 50 pounds of, so extremely explosive (and) a violent explosion," he said. After the explosives were disposed of, Elyria police and investigators from the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation combed the scene for evidence. In addition to the explosives, Lantz said Parker was heavily armed and well supplied to maintain a gun battle potentially many times longer than the one that occurred. Parker had a total of 10 firearms with him at the time of the shooting; seven of which were rifles, five of them with scopes of varying magnifications, along with two handguns and a shotgun. Based on spent casings which were found around Parker and his vehicle, police estimated that he fired at least 103 rounds, primarily from his rifles. Lantz said that 84 of those spent casings were found on the driver's side of Parker's Camry after he had set up for the ambush. The other 19 casings were found near the center of the cul-de-sac, the spot from which Parker initially opened fire on Wagner and Gale. Myriad bullet holes created by rifle rounds were found in the side of Wagner's SUV, in Payne's cruiser and in the driver's side door of Gale's cruiser, which also had its rear window shot out. That gunfire represented only a tiny portion of the firepower which Parker possessed, as police catalogued 294 rifle magazines loaded with varying types of ammunition. Many of the magazines were taped together, which would have enabled Parker to reload his rifle faster and carry more ammunition with the rifle. Between the loaded magazines and numerous containers of loose bullets, police said that Parker had more than 7,500 total rounds of ammunition with him on July 23. "This volume and types of weapons, the ammunition and the explosive material; they paint a very clear picture," Lantz said. "This suspect was heavily armed. And he came prepared for a violent and sustained confrontation with law enforcement." In addition to the ordnance he brought, Parker had also come to River Bend Drive with a cooler and several full packages of drinks. "The suspect had some type of plan for this to be a sustained contact to the point that he was going to need to rehydrate," Lantz said. Parker also had ear protection in the form of large red earmuffs made for shooting, which officers testified he was wearing during the gunfight. Also found at the scene was a utility push cart with two shelves, on which some of Parker's supplies were placed. Lantz said this demonstrated that Parker planned to at some point "add mobility to this situation." Investigators also found 47 spent casings around Payne's cruiser, the point from which police first returned fire, which were consistent with firearms used by Lorain police. "The suspect continued to reposition, reload and remain engaged, showing an intent to continue to inflict deadly harm," Lantz said. "... Officers recognized the suspect's actions as an immediate and ongoing deadly threat to human life, and in response to this deadly threat, in defense of their lives (and) the lives of fellow officers, five officers discharged service weapons at the suspect. Gunfire was directed towards the suspect until the suspect was no longer an active threat." The investigation into Parker continues, Lantz said, and Elyria police are still working with the FBI to examine both digital evidence and physical evidence from the scene and from Parker's home. "We are still awaiting the results of those examinations," he said. "Our goal is to gain a fuller understanding of the suspect's intent and planning process to determine again whether (Parker) acted alone or was influenced or assisted by others." As for the officer-involved shooting, Lantz said that portion of the case will now be formally presented to Lorain County Prosecutor Tony Cillo for review. Gale and Payne remain on medical leave and will be for some time, Lorain police Chief Michael Failing said on Thursday. Failing thanked Elyria police and other departments for their assistance in responding to, and investigating the ambush. Failing, who was acting chief when Wagner was killed, was sworn in to the office on Monday. "This is the third time I've watched this briefing and I can tell you it does not get any easier," Failing said. "But in watching it, I feel pride for the men and women of the Lorain police department who responded to this tragedy – it speaks volumes about their character and their commitment." The officers involved in the response to Parker's ambush will be commended at an award ceremony, Failing said, and a plaque will be placed next to the exit door of the Lorain police department with the inscription: "Nobody asks to be a hero, it just sometimes turns out that way." Contact Owen MacMillan at omacmillan@chroniclet.com. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com