Deputy slain, cop wounded in Ohio shootout

ENON, Ohio - A sheriff's deputy investigating a report of gunfire at a trailer park was shot dead yesterday, and the shooting suspect was killed after a furious standoff with police, authorities said. A police officer was wounded.

The slain deputy, Suzanne Hopper, 40, was married and was the mother of two children, Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly said. He didn't release the name of the suspect killed in the standoff in Enon Beach, about 50 miles west of Columbus. He identified the wounded officer as German Township Patrolman Jeremy Blum.

Hopper, who was wearing a protective vest, was shot as she tried to photograph a footprint in the mobile-home park, Kelly said.

"Our deputy never had the opportunity to return fire or take cover," he said at a news conference.

Police officers were trying to retrieve the deputy's body when the suspect fired on them from inside a trailer, and Blum was wounded in a large exchange of gunfire, Kelly said. There were "many, many, many" shots fired by the suspect and police, he said.

Authorities are investigating whether police gunfire killed the suspect, said Kelly, who has been sheriff for 24 years. He said he had hired the slain deputy and had known her since the police academy.

He called her "just a good person, an outstanding deputy," and said she was the first officer he's lost.

"This is the worst day of my entire law enforcement career," Kelly said. - AP