An Ohio man has been charged with fatally shooting his three young children, ages 3, 4 and 7, and has admitted to planning the killings, according to authorities.
Chad Doerman, 32, who is also accused of injuring his partner and mother of the children at the family’s home, was charged with aggravated murder, authorities said.
Agents found three children outside the home with gunshot wounds and tried to save their lives, but the children died at the scene.
The 34-year-old mother, who was not identified, was outside the home and had been shot in the hand while trying to protect her children, police said. She was transported to a hospital with injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening.
COOLING CALLS TO 911
Deputies responded to the home in Monroe Township shortly before 4:30 p.m. Thursday after receiving a pair of 911 calls.
In one of the calls, the mother screamed that “her babies have been shot,” and another from a passing motorist who said a girl was running down the street saying her father was killing everyone, according to the Sheriff’s Office. of Clermont County.
Doerman confessed during his hearing that he lined up his sons before executing them with a rifle, prosecutors said Friday. One of the boys tried to flee into a nearby field, but Doerman “hunted” his son and brought him back to his home before killing him.
Doerman’s bail was set at $20 million. He is currently being held in the Clermont County Jail.
Gast called the murders the worst crime he had ever seen.
The children’s names have not been released. “This was the man they woke up to every day seeking protection, love and guidance in all things…” said prosecutor David Gast. “He was his world, he was his guardian and he executed them in cold blood.”
“They held these kids knowing there was nothing they could do,” Gast said. “How come you don’t see that kind of abomination?”
