(NEW YORK) — Three young brothers — aged just 7, 4 and 3 years old — have allegedly been shot and killed by their father and their mother has been wounded at a home in Ohio, police said.
The triple homicide occurred at approximately 4:15 p.m. on Thursday when authorities the Clermont County Communications Center received a call from an unknown female who was screaming that “her babies had been shot.” A second call was placed just three minutes later from a person passing by who reported a young female running down the street screaming that “her father was killing everyone.”
Clermont County Sheriff’s Road Patrol Deputies immediately responded to the residence on Laurel Lindale Road in Monroe Township, approximately 26 miles southeast of downtown Cincinnati, and found an adult male — later identified as 32-year-old Chad Doerman — sitting on a step outside of the home where they detained him for questioning without incident.
But when deputies began their investigation, they discovered “three unresponsive gunshot victims in the yard of the residence,” according to a press release from the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities immediately began life-saving measures on the victims until Monroe Fire/EMS officials arrived on the scene minutes later.
“All life saving measures were unsuccessful and all three gunshot victims succumbed to their injuries while on scene,” police said. “A fourth gunshot victim, later identified as an adult female age 34, was also located outside of the residence. The female sustained what appeared to be a single gunshot wound to her hand [and was] non-life threatening.”
The injured woman was taken by Monroe Township EMS to University Hospital Cincinnati where Sheriff Leahy from Clermont County notified her that her three sons — aged 7, 4 and 3 — had died in the shooting.
The suspect and father of the three deceased juveniles, Chad Doerman, was taken to the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office and interviewed by detectives. He was subsequently charged with three counts of aggravated murder and taken to the Clermont County Jail where he is currently being held without bond, police said.
Clermont County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that there were no signs of forced entry into the home and that they were not looking for any other suspects involved in the murders.
Doerman is due in court at 10 a.m. on Friday morning for his arraignment.
Meanwhile, the Clermont County Coroner’s Office responded to the scene on Thursday and transported the bodies of the deceased brothers to the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office for autopsies.
“The investigation remains ongoing and will be reviewed in its entirety with the Clermont County Prosecutor’s Office for presentation to the Grand Jury for consideration of additional charges,” authorities said. “Additional information will be released as it develops.”
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