An Ohio man has been charged with murder after his three young sons were shot and a young girl was seen running in the street screaming her father “was killing everyone,” authorities say.
Chad Doerman, 32, has been charged with three counts of aggravated murder after deputies found him at the scene of the triple homicide Thursday, the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
He allegedly lined up his three young sons, aged 3, 4 and 7, and "executed" them with a rifle in a planned attack, a prosecutor said at his bond hearing Friday.
Dispatch had received two alarming calls Thursday just after 4 p.m.: One from a woman yelling “her babies had been shot” and another from a person driving who reported seeing a girl running down the road “stating that ‘her father was killing everyone,’” the release said.
When deputies responded to a home in the 1900 block of Laurel Lindale Road in Monroe Township, about 25 miles southwest of Cincinnati, they found Doerman sitting on a step outside the home.
The three young brothers were found shot and unresponsive in the home’s yard, authorities said.
Paramedics performed life saving measures, but the boys died at the scene.
The mother of the boys, 34, was shot in the hand. She was found outside of the home and was transported to University Hospital in Cincinnati for the non-life-threatening injury.
Clermont County Sheriff Robert Leahy broke the news of her sons' deaths to her at the hospital, the release said.
Doerman was detained at the home “without incident” and was interviewed by detectives. He was transported to Clermont County Jail and is being held without bond.
Authorities said there were no signs of forced entry in the home and the sheriff’s office wasn’t searching for another suspects.
It's not clear what precipitated the shooting and the investigation is ongoing.
Doerman appeared visibly emotional during his Friday arraignment, where he wore a green bullet proof vest and cried as prosecutors described the horror that unfolded Thursday.
David Gast, with the Clermont County Prosecutor’s Office, said Doerman planned out the events.
“In an act of just incomprehensible cruelty the father that stands before you lined up his three young boys and he executed them in his own home with a rifle,” Gast said.
Gast said that the mother of the boys grabbed the gun at one point in an effort to protect the children.
“We know that one of the boys was able to flee into a field near the home and again we know from his admission, (the) father hunted that boy down, [dragged] him back to the property, and executed him in front of witnesses,” Gast added.
Court documents viewed by NBC affiliate WLWT of Cincinnati said Doerman “confessed to planning and carrying out the deaths of the victims for several months.”
His bond was set at $20 million, which prosecutors said was the highest they’ve ever asked for.
A preliminary hearing has been set for June 26. It's not immediately clear if he has a lawyer.
The New Richmond School District Superintendent shared a statement on social media Thursday writing: “Our hearts are once again broken tonight as we yet again ask the community to life up those affected by this horrific incident.”
The district said grief counselors would be available at Monroe Elementary School.
Source:
nbcnews.com, Marlene Lenthang, June 19, 2023
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