3 Ohio Officers Wounded in Lunchtime Ambush Attack

The acting chief of the Lorain, Ohio, Police said two of his officers were eating lunch on a local dead end street Wednesday (July 23, 2025) afternoon when a man opened fire on both of them. Before the incident was over three officers had been wounded—one reportedly seriously wounded—and the suspect was dead.

Acting Lorain Police Chief Micheal Failing said during a press conference that the shooting occurred shortly after 1 p.m. Officer Peter Gale and Officer Phillip Wagner were sharing a pizza while parked side by side in their patrol vehicles.

Failing said the suspect was “laying in wait” with an “arsenal of weapons." Elyria Police Chief Jim Welsh, whose agency is investigating the shooting, said the gunman opened fire on the officers with a “high-powered rifle.”

Multiple rounds hit the patrol vehicles and the officers were hit as well. Officer Wagner suffered multiple wounds and Officer Gale was hit in the hand

Officer Brent Payne responded as backup and immediately came under fire. He was also wounded, Failing said.

In an exchange of fire with the wounded officers, the suspect was killed, Welsh said.

Responding officers put the three wounded officers into patrol vehicles and transported them to a local hospital, Failing said. After initial treatment, two of the wounded officers were airlifted to a hospital in Cleveland.

The suspect has been identified by law enforcement as 28-year-old Michael Parker.

An Elyria Police press release reports that inside Parker’s car investigators found multiple rifles, handguns, loaded magazines, and improvised explosives.

The shooting is being investigated by the Elyria Police Department, the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office, and the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Welsh said.