2011 Copley Township shooting
| Copley Township shootings | |
|---|---|
Michael Hance
|
|
| Location | Copley Township, Summit County, Ohio, USA |
| Date | August 7, 2011 10:55 a.m. – 11:05 a.m. EST (UTC-05:00) |
|
Attack type
|
Mass murder, mass shooting, home invasion |
| Weapons | |
| Deaths | 8 (including the perpetrator) |
|
Non-fatal injuries
|
1 |
| Perpetrator | Michael E. Hance |
| Motive | Unclear |
On August 7, 2011, a mass shooting occurred in Copley Township, Summit County, Ohio by 51-year-old Michael E. Hance. Seven people were shot dead before the gunman was shot and killed by Copley police officer Ben Campbell.
Using two handguns, including a Hi-Point Model JHP .45-caliber pistol, which he bought from Sydmor's Jewelry in neighboring Barberton, Ohio, five days before, and a .357 Magnum six-shot revolver he bought from the same location in 2005, Hance opened fire at a house in the 2300 block of Goodenough Avenue. He first shot his 49-year-old girlfriend Rebecca K. Dieter, who was the only survivor in the shooting. Dieter managed to call 9-1-1 before escaping to the porch of her house and being shot again in the back, after which she pretended to be dead.
He then ran into an adjacent house, where he shot and killed Dieter's brother Craig; Autumn Johnson, 16; her grandparents, Russell Johnson, 67, and Gudrun Johnson, 64; and Amelia Shambaugh, 16, who was visiting a friend at the time and was seated in her parked car when she was shot. Hance then chased Autumn Johnson's father, 44-year-old Bryan Johnson, northward, and shot him to death in a nearby driveway on Schocalog Road.
He next followed Craig's son, 11-year-old Scott, into a house on the same street. There, Hance found Scott hiding behind a furnace in the basement with the home's current residents, Melonie Bagley and her three children (nine-year-old Dae'Shawn, three-year-old Destany, and a one-year-old daughter). Bagley tried to deny that Scott was with her before fleeing with her daughters. Hance found Scott and Dae'Shawn, shooting and killing the former while leaving the Bagley family alive.
As Hance was leaving the house, Officer Ben Campbell, along with former Copley Township policeman Keith Lavery, spotted him. Together, they issued commands, which Hance ignored, raising his gun instead, firing shots at them. In response, Campbell and Lavery shot at Hance, with rounds from Campbell's rifle, ultimately killing Hance.
Michael E. Hance, a 51-year-old male, was identified as the gunman in the shooting. He was described as extremely helpful, but also quiet, strange, eccentric and "not well-liked" by residents of Copley Township. Acquaintances stated that he had "compulsions" that seemed to hint at a previously un-diagnosed mental illness. He graduated from Norton High School in 1978, and was voted the "most courteous" student in the class.
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