Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against a 23-year-old man who allegedly gunned down a veteran Ohio officer.
Wade Edward Winn is accused of killing Detective Bill Brewer and wounding Lt. Nick DeRose in the Saturday night shooting, the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office said.
The deadly shooting unfolded when the officers responded to a call of a barricaded suicidal person at an apartment in the Cincinnati area about 10:30 p.m. Saturday.
Winn allegedly faked a suicide, prosecutors said in court Monday. When the officers went rushed into the apartment to try to save his life, Winn was waiting there and allegedly ambushed the officers, firing multiple rounds, prosecutors said.
Brewer, a 20-year veteran of the department, leaves behind a wife and 5-year-old son, the sheriff’s office said.
DeRose, who has been on the job for 22 years, has since been released from the hospital, the sheriff’s office said.
After Brewer and DeRose were shot, a lengthy standoff unfolded, the sheriff’s office said. Officers “endured a barrage of gunfire” from the suspect before they took Winn into custody Sunday morning, the sheriff’s office said.
Winn was charged with aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder, according to David O’Neil, a spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
Winn, in an orange jumpsuit and cuts across his face, made a brief court appearance Monday morning. He did not enter a plea. Bond was set at $10 million.
He is due to return to court on February 13 for a preliminary hearing.
Meanwhile, Ohio and police departments across the country are in mourning.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine ordered flags of be flown at half-staff in honor of Brewer’s law enforcement service.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost added on Twitter. “This Officer’s valor is now recorded for all time, written in blood. We mourn, and we will remember.”
In New York, the NYPD offered its condolences for Brewer.
