Lowery's gun fire nearly hit another officer

Loweryás gun fire nearly hit another officer

Ambulance called 3 minutes after Dempsey shot

By RENEE FOX

Tribune Chronicle

WARREN ä According to the nearly 1,000-page county prosecutorás report, one of the 10, .40 caliber bullets Weathersfield police officer Daniel Lowery fired at Cody Dempsey whizzed past Trooper Donald Walker and lodged in the front fender of his Ohio State Highway Patrol cruiser.

âTrooper Walker did feel the percussion of a round go through the right rear window of the suspectás car before he retreated. The round ended up in Trooper Walkerás left front patrol care fender,ã the report states.

Before the shots were fired, âOfficer Lowery had his weapon out and he and Trooper Walker looked at each other as though they were concerned with cross-fire.ã

Walker also had his weapon drawn, pointing at the back of Dempseyás head and could not see Dempsey pointing the gun at his own head or Weathersfield police officer Kristopher Hodge. The report states Lowery decided to fire his Glock when Dempsey turned the gun toward Hodge.

Walker said he started to move closer to the stolen Cadillac to help âextractá Dempsey when he heard Lowery shout, âGun,ã and then heard the shots.

Walker was about a foot away from the rear window when it was shattered by Loweryás gun fire. Dempsey, Walker said he later discovered, was his sister-in-lawás nephew.

Sheriffás deputy Joseph Jones told investigators he himself did not fire because when the suspect raised the Colt to his own head, Jones realized he would be in the line of fire if Dempsey killed himself and moved out of the way. When Dempsey pointed the gun toward Hodge, Jones said he didnát fire because other officers could have been hit by friendly fire.

Dempsey had stolen a 1983 Cadillac El Dorado from Burghill Auto Salvage and placed a friendás stolen license plates on it, a few hours after a fight with 30-year-old ex-girlfriend Danielle Hall of Sharon and friend David âRyanã Gray at the Orangeville Tavern in Sharpsville.

Bartender Jaime Miracle said Dempsey, who had been at the bar for about four hours, threw a bottle when she told him not to take his beer outside and argued with Gray and Hall in the parking lot. Although Dempseyás attitude was âsubduedã when he arrived, Miracle told investigators, he became agitated as the night went on. Hall, Miracle stated, told the bartender that she had hit Cody three times in the parking lot before he walked off around 2 a.m.

A voicemail Dempsey left Hall seems to confirm Miracleás statement, â(you) sit there and lie to me, square to my face. And then punch me in the face.ã

The voicemail also indicates Dempsey thought Gray was hitting on Hall in front of him, five days after she broke up with Dempsey, citing his addiction to prescription pills.

Dempsey, who had a documented history of substance abuse and overdoses going back to 2005, had been written a prescription for oxycodone about three months before he died. He had opiods and cannabinoids in his system when he died, according to the coroner.

The 25-year-old sent many text and voice messages to Hall and Gray, declaring his intent for his life to end when law enforcement caught up with him.

After rifling through a few cars near the tavern, Dempsey eventually found 74-year-old Gerald Odamás loaded .10 caliber Colt Delta Elite and two additional magazines in the center console of Odamás unlocked 1998 Lincoln on Bradlee Browlee Road in Kinsman, a 7 minute walk from the salvage yard.

Odam bought the gun in 1989, the year Dempsey was born.

The walk from the tavern to the salvage yard would have taken about an hour and a half or two hours.

At 11:01 a.m., Detective Michael Yannucci of the sheriffás department spotted the Cadillac and discovered the plates didnát match the stolen vehicle.

And, although first aide was performed on Dempsey after he was shot at 11:11 a.m., an ambulance wasnát requested until 11:14 a.m. Dempsey died shortly after being transported to the hospital.

An autopsy confirmed, with a gun shot residue test, that Dempsey had fired the stolen gun at some point. A single round was missing from the loaded magazine, its spent casing found in the stolen car along with the bullet hole in the floorboard. A fragment of the bullet was found in the roadway.

After being shot, an officer told Dempsey to hold his hands up. He was able to raise one.

âI just heard heavy breathing and gurgling. When the EMTs arrived he said his name was àCody,áã Trooper Kristopher Conaway stated. That was all Dempsey said in front of officers at the scene, but his eyes were open.

âHe wasnát fighting or resisting, more likely trying to hold onto his life,ã Jones said.

rfox@tribtoday.com