(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly and 9 other members of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and the German Township Police Division received a Distinguished Law Enforcement Valor Award at the 2011 Ohio Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Conference today. The award was received in relation to the officers’ efforts surrounding the January 1, 2011, fatal shooting of Clark County Deputy Suzanne Hopper.
“While we honor all the sacrifices law enforcement makes every single day to help protect Ohio families, these awards recognize individual officers and task forces who bravely serve the citizens of Ohio and have provided distinguished service to their communities and departments,” said Attorney General DeWine.
Receiving the Distinguished Law Enforcement Valor Award were Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly, Major Russell Garman, Lieutenant Dustin White, Sergeant Christopher Clark, Detective Richard Brumfield, Detective Ethan Cox, Detective Perry Roeser, Deputy Chad Eubanks, and Deputy Robert Wagner; and Officer Jeremy Blum, German Township Police Division.
On January 1, Deputy Hopper and Lt. White were dispatched to Enon Beach Campground, where the occupants of a camper said they were sleeping when someone fired shots into the camper. Deputy Hopper was taking photographs of the scene when a man approached and fired at her. On- and off-duty officers from Clark, Greene, and Montgomery counties responded. The armed suspect, still inside the camper, ignored pleas to surrender and fired on officers. An exchange of gunfire ensued. When the shooting stopped, the suspect was dead and German Township Police Officer Jeremy Blum had been shot in the shoulder. Fellow peace officers were able to recover the body of Deputy Hopper, who had suffered one fatal gunshot to the head.
Deputy Hopper will officially be memorialized by the Attorney General’s Office at an annual Peace Officers’ memorial service in 2012.
A complete list of all award winners is available online at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/NewsReleases.
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