Police confirm identify of SWAT officer who shot Alexander

9-20-2012 Ohio:

The Lorain County SWAT team member who shot and killed Billy Alexander early Sept. 15 has been identified as Wayne Ramsey, a LaGrange police officer, according to Lorain police Lt. Mark Carpentiere. Lorain police are investigating the incident triggered by a 911 call.

Ramsey was placed on paid administrative leave after the shooting, said LaGrange Mayor Kim Strauss. Such leave is common for officers who have been involved in a shooting, according to Dennis Cavanaugh, Chief Deputy of the Lorain County Sheriff Department.

“This is Ramsey’s first time being involved in a shooting,” Cavanaugh said. “He will take as long as he sees fit to recover.”

Police are not releasing any other details. “The investigation is still ongoing,” Carpentiere said.

Alexander, 41, of Lorain was shot at least twice — in the chest and torso — with a .223-caliber rifle, said Dr. Stephen Evans, the Lorain County coroner.

Alexander was a registered sex offender, according to the Lorain County Sheriff’s website. He pleaded guilty to the rape of a 4-year-old girl in 1991 and served 15 years in Lorain Correctional Institution in Grafton. He was released in 2008. He was also convicted of escape in 1992.

Early Saturday morning, the Lorain County SWAT team went to a house at 704 DeWitt St. in Sheffield Township. They were responding to a 911 call from a woman who was crying hysterically that Alexander had molested a 5-year-old child and was threatening to kill himself and them.

She said he was “throwing a gun around,” according to the 911 recording. Later she shouted, “He just shot off the gun!”

A child can be heard saying, “Daddy, please don’t shoot us!” and the woman can be heard comforting the child by saying, “It’s OK baby.”

When officers arrived at about 1:45 a.m., Alexander fired one shot at them and then went into the house with the woman and two children. Police ordered the woman and children to leave while they pursued Alexander into the back yard. Alexander was pronounced dead at 3:30 a.m. Evans said. ..Source.. by Morning Journal Staff