by media » Tue Oct 19, 2004 5:38 pm
AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- A police officer was shot in a confrontation
with a gunman who did not have hands but used prosthetic metal
hooks to fire at officers with a rifle, police said.
The gunman, Robert McMullen Jr., 33, of Barberton, was shot by
police and was pronounced dead at the scene Sunday night, police
said.
McMullen's parents told police he had threatened to kill his
mother, and was trying to attack her with his hooks. McMullen's
father tried to fend off his son by hitting him with a board, then
locked him outside the house after calling 911, police Lt. Sylvia
Trundle said.
McMullen fired at two officers as they stepped out of their
cruisers to respond to the disturbance call.
Police identified the wounded officer as a 36-year-old male who
had been on the force for nine years. He was struck in the torso
just below his bulletproof vest.
The officer was in serious but stable condition Monday at Akron
City Hospital after surgery, Trundle said. The other officer was
not hurt.
Both officers returned fire, and it was not known which one shot
McMullen, Trundle said.
A search of McMullen's car turned up a 12-inch pipe bomb filled
with gunpowder and connected to matches as an ignition source,
Trundle said Monday. A BB gun and additional gunpowder also were
found in the car, she said.
McMullen's parents told police their son lost his hands and arms
up to his elbows in 1996. After being stopped for a traffic
violation by West Virginia state troopers and leading authorities
on a five-mile chase, McMullen eventually got out of his car in and
detonated a grenade he was holding in his hands.