The right decision in Lorain police shooting review

It has long been clear that Michael Parker had to be stopped after he launched an unprovoked attack on two Lorain police officers eating lunch in their cruisers last year. The 28-year-old Lorain man pulled into River Bend Drive on July 23 and opened fire on Officers Phillip Wagner and Peter Gale. Both were wounded, and Wagner died the next day from his injuries. Also wounded was one of the responding officers, Brent Payne. After Parker started shooting, he took up a defensive position, armed to the teeth with multiple firearms and explosives, and continued to shoot at police, who justifiably returned fire. He was killed in the exchange of gunfire. As we've written before, Parker was a clear and present danger to not only police, but the public. Responding officers did what was necessary to protect themselves and the public. We therefore were relieved, but not surprised, when Lorain County Prosecutor Tony Cillo announced last week that he had determined that the police response was "lawful and appropriate under the circumstances." He also said that the case wouldn't be presented to the grand jury. That was the appropriate conclusion based on the investigation, which, however obvious it seemed that police had done nothing wrong, was necessary. When police use force, such reviews, including by prosecutors, are needed to demonstrate to the public that officers, who wield incredible power, are acting within the scope of the law. Moreover, such investigations need to be transparent so that the public understands why investigators arrived at the conclusions they did. Local police recognized this in the immediate aftermath of Parker's awful attack, with Elyria Police Chief James Welsh promising a transparent investigation. Welsh, whose department led the probe, has made good on that pledge. (Outside departments typically handle such investigations to avoid a conflict of interest.) In September, investigators released an initial report detailing their findings. They also shared body-camera and dash-camera footage of the firefight. They answered questions at a news conference. Cillo followed that path last week with his announcement and release of the full report from Elyria police. It provided more insight into what investigators uncovered. The investigation revealed a lot about Parker, including his history of mental-health issues. He appeared to hold extreme views, which was demonstrated by a text to a friend in which he wrote about saying "Heil Hitler." Police learned about Parker's interest in firearms and that he had left a job with the U.S. Postal Service on "bad terms." After hearing about the attack, some of his former coworkers suspected Parker might have been the shooter, which promoted one to text him, "Hey bud, crazy day in Lorain huh" after the attack. By then Parker was dead. The friend described Parker as "off," but said that he never expected him to do something like what happened in July. Parker's family also seemed at a loss to explain what happened. They told investigators that he had sustained head injuries when he was younger, that he had struggled to keep jobs and that he had used credit cards and at least one loan to procure weapons. But no one appears to have known what Parker was planning, nor why he decided to ambush police officers who were grabbing a quick bite to eat during their shifts. It is frustrating that, as Welsh said, we might never know what motivated Parker to kill, even if such knowledge wouldn't have changed the terrible outcome. "I think everybody was looking for some hard proof as to what his thinking was," Welsh said. "But, you know, sometimes people just do bad things. I think this guy, especially that day, had made an evil plan and followed through with it." Even absent a motive, there is no denying the evil of what Parker did nor that officers were justified in putting a stop to his rampage. They deserve the public's thanks.