Three young boys were shot and killed in Ohio Thursday, and their father has been arrested and charged with aggravated murder, according to the sheriff’s office.
It all started around 4 p.m. in the 1900 block of Laurel Lindale Road when police responded to a report of a shooting.
Deputies on scene found four people shot outside a home on Laurel Lindale Road. The first crews on scene attempted lifesaving measures on the three young boys but were unsuccessful. The sheriff’s office said all three gunshot victims died from their injuries while on scene.
Photo of three children provided by family
The three victims were all brothers, ages 7, 4 and 3.
The mother of the three boys that were killed was found outside the home with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the hand.
She was taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center for treatment. Clermont County Sheriff Robert Leahy said he met her at the hospital, where he told her the tragic news about her three sons.
The boys’ older sister, Alexis, escaped the violence.
When deputies got to the scene, they came into contact with a man, later identified as the boy’s father, 32-year-old Chad Doerman, sitting on a step outside of the residence. Doerman was taken into custody at the scene and brought to the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office to be interviewed by detectives.
Later that night, Doerman was charged with three counts of aggravated murder, all unclassified felonies.
He was transported to the Clermont County Jail.
Doerman appeared in court Friday, wearing a bulletproof vest and flanked by about a half dozen deputies.
Doerman’s defense asked for a $75,000 bond saying he had a job, cosigners, and that he was married. Although, it appears the woman he is married to is the victim in the crime.
Prosecutors asked for a $20,000,000 bond, the highest bond they had ever asked of a judge in Clermont County. Judge J.C. Nagel granted the prosecutor’s request.
David Gast, chief prosecutor in Clermont County, spoke during the hearing.
“The trauma that this man has inflicted on his family, community, law enforcement, first responders, and all the rest of us is unspeakable. There has been a full admission in this case, the case is still new we’re still discovering facts. But the evil horror of what we know is impossible to process,” Gast said in court. “In an act of incomprehensible cruelty the father that stands before you lined up his three young boys and executed them in his own home with a rifle. In an act of desperation the mother at some point grabbed the gun the father was wielding to attempt to protect them.”
Gast said one of the boys was able to flee but said Doerman “hunted that boy down, brought him back to the property and executed him in front of witnesses.”
“One of the most monstrous, craven, cowardly acts that will ever be our misfortune of seeing,” Gast said. Gast also said in court that Doerman planned out the events.
“I’ve been a lawyer 35 years, this is by far the most sickening horrifying crime I have seen I can only imagine the terror these little boys felt and experienced,” Clermont County Prosecutor Mark Tekulve said following the hearing.
Tekulve said the mother witnessed the horrific crime.
“The mother saw this, you can imagine the immense trauma and terror she experienced and we will do the utmost that this defendant never sees the light of day again,” Tekulve said.
He said his office is reviewing all possible charges.
Emergency dispatch calls described the terrifying moments shots rang out.
The Clermont County Communication Center received the initial 911 call from a woman who was screaming that “her babies had been shot.”
A second 911 call was made to the Communication Center from a passerby who reported that a female juvenile was seen running down the road stating that “her father was killing everyone.”
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