COPLEY TWP.: A gunman went on a rampage Sunday morning, killing seven people in three locations before being killed in an exchange of gunfire with police.
Copley police Chief Michael Mier said five people were found shot to death outside a home on Goodenough Avenue, two people were killed at separate locations on Schocalog Road and the shooter also was killed.
It is believed two victims survived the shooting and are being treated at an area hospital, although no details were available on their conditions.
Authorities on Sunday declined to identify any of the victims, saying full details would be available at a news conference at noon Monday.
The Summit County Medical Examiner’s office said it was delaying identification until next of kin were notified.
A witness to one of the shootings identified at least two of the dead as husband and wife Russell and Gudrun Johnson.
At an evening prayer vigil, neighbors identified other victims as Brian Johnson, 17-year-old Copley High School student Autumn Johnson and Scott Dieter, an 11-year-old from Kentucky who was visiting his aunt. Neighbors said the alleged shooter was the longtime boyfriend of Scott’s aunt, Becky Dieter, who is believed to be at an area hospital.
Neighbors knew only the alleged shooter’s first name.
The names of other victims were not known Sunday night.
It is believed that a third youth — another Copley High School student — is among the dead, school Superintendent Brian Poe said.
Gilbert and Nancy Elie, who live next door to the shooting scene, said they were in their basement recreation room when they heard noises and went upstairs to investigate.
They heard a woman moaning and asking for help, Nancy Elie said.
She said they saw Russell and Gudrun Johnson, whom they had known for about 10 years since they moved onto the street, lying in the driveway where they had been shot.
Gilbert Elie said he ventured outside to check on the woman and saw two more people in a black Chevrolet minivan who also had been shot. Another female was lying over a teenage girl, as if trying to protect her, Gilbert Elie said. He said he believes they were dead, too.
Gilbert Elie yelled to his wife to call 911.
“I said, ‘Call the police. Get them out here. These people are laying here, dead,’ ” Gilbert Elie said.
He said Becky Dieter, who lives in a house between his home and the driveway where the people were killed, came out of her home and asked him what was happening.
“I was talking to her when her boyfriend came out of the house behind her and shot her three or four times,” Gilbert Elie said.
He said he took refuge from the shooter. “I peeked out from behind the car and saw her fall off the porch and down the steps,” he said.
He then heard police arrive and heard people running behind the houses through the woods and more shots being fired.
A prayer vigil was being held at 7:30 tonight at the Copley Community Park on Copley Road east of the Copley Circle.
School reaction
Poe on Sunday afternoon said a township trustee told him two Copley High School students were killed during the shootings and that a third youth, an 11-year-old, was also killed. Poe said the trustee told him the 11-year-old was not a Copley student.
Poe said he could not confirm any names.
“We’re deeply saddened,” he said. “This sends an absolute shock through the community. One of the most difficult things to deal with is the senselessness of this. It’s not easy when anyone is killed, but particularly youth.”
Poe said the district has put its crisis plan into effect and will offer support for students and families, possibly as soon as Monday.
Shots-fired call
Copley police received a 911 call at 10:56 a.m. Sunday reporting several gunshots fired on Goodenough Avenue, Mier said.
A second 911 call came from a female who indicated her boyfriend was involved in the shooting, the chief said.
After locating several victims on Goodenough, police spotted a suspect and chased him to Schocalog Road, where the chief said “he engaged the officers in gunfire and the suspect has been killed as well.”
Mier said a motive for the shootings is not known.
“Our job is extremely complicated,” the chief said.
The Associated Press is reporting that the shooting followed a family argument.
Early Sunday afternoon, Mier said a ninth person — a female — survived the shooting and was in intensive care at an area hospital. At a news conference later in the afternoon, Copley Sgt. Eric Goodwin said there were two victims who were hospitalized. No details were available.
Schocalog Road was blocked off to the public at Copley Road, and police officers from Copley and Bath townships, Akron and Fairlawn, as well as Summit County sheriff’s deputies, were on the scene. Officials from the Summit County Medical Examiner and prosecutor’s office and officers from the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation were also at the scene, the chief said.
“We have a lot of work” to do and officers are processing several crime scenes, including two locations on Goodenough and two on Schocalog, Mier said.
“It’s going to be a long time before we know any more,” he said.
Dealing with such a dramatic crime scene has been tough for investigators, he said.
Officials from Summit County Victim Assistance were on their way to provide counseling, the chief said.
“It’s a very serious situation,” Mier said.
“I heard it was over an argument, but I don’t know what could cause anybody to kill people,” Gilbert Elie said.
Staff writer Betty Lin-Fisher contributed to this report.
Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com. Kathy Antoniotti can be reached at 330-996-3565 or kantoniotti@thebeaconjournal.com.
