Prosecutor says father lined his sons up and executed them with a rifle in Ohio

A Clermont County man is accused of lining his three young sons up and shooting them with a rifle, executing the boys, who were ages 3, 4 and 7.

Chad Doerman, 32, allegedly confessed to police that he had planned the Thursday triple homicide that turned the Monroe Township home he shared with his family into a crime scene crawling with investigators and cordoned by police tape.

In a Friday morning arraignment, prosecutors said that the boys’ mother was shot in the hand as she tried to shield her sons.

“The trauma this man has inflicted … is unspeakable,” said David Gast, who heads the Clermont County Prosecutor’s Office criminal division. “The evil horror of what we know is impossible to process.”

Ohio shooting: Chad Doerman, charged in sons' triple murder, previously accused of choking his father

Chad Doerman 'hunted' down one son who tried to flee, prosecutor said

Gast said that one of the three victims had tried to run away, fleeing toward a field near the family’s home. Doerman “hunted” the boy down, Gast said, then brought him back to the house and killed him.

Dispatchers were alerted to the crime by 911 calls, the first of which was received at 4:15 p.m. Thursday. In it, a woman screamed that her “babies had been shot,” according to a statement released by the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office.

A second call made three minutes later was from a neighbor who reported that a young girl was running down the road screaming that “her father was killing everyone,” officials said.

Asked if Doerman had other children aside from the three sons he slayed, sheriff’s officials declined to answer. They said only that the girl is safe.

Monroe Township, Ohio, shooting: Boys ages 3, 4, 7 killed in Clermont County shooting. 'Our hearts are once again broken.'

Officials kept other details under wraps as well. While they declined to identify the boys or their mother, they did relate that a 34-year-old woman found outside the home suffered a gunshot wound to her hand. She was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where Sheriff Robert S. Leahy met with the woman to inform her of the death of her sons, according to the sheriff's office.

Deputies who arrived at the scene Thursday soon after those 911 calls found Doerman sitting outside on a step. He was detained without incident and questioned, said Chief Deputy Chris Stratton. Medics attempted to perform CPR on the boys to no avail.

“They held these children knowing there was nothing they could do,” said Gast, who described the first responders and the community at large as traumatized by the deaths. “How do you unsee that sort of abomination?”

Bond set at $20 million for Chad Doerman following Clermont County shooting

It wasn’t until about 10 p.m. that officials said Doerman had been arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of his sons.

That he allegedly confessed to the shootings wasn’t known until his Friday arraignment, when Gast said in court that the triple homicide marked the worst crime of his career.

Doerman, wearing shackles and a green padded vest typically used to deter suicide attempts, appeared in person for his arraignment. His eyes welled and his face contorted as Gast told Judge Jason Nagel the prosecution’s assertion that Doerman planned his children’s executions.

Nagel scheduled a June 26 preliminary hearing. Doerman is to be held on a $20 million bond at the Clermont County Jail as the case unfolds.

Monroe Township community reels in wake of Ohio shooting

On Friday, Doerman’s neighbors seemed in disbelief. Polite tape surrounded the family’s property near the corner of Laurel Lindale and Clermontville Lindale roads, which county records show that Doerman bought in 2016.

The home is across an intersection from the Laurel Cemetery, where landscapers on Friday weaved through headstones atop riding lawnmowers. A sheriff’s vehicle sat in front of the Doermans’ home, which was silent.

Strewn across the property were heartbreaking reminders of how typical a household the place had seemed to neighbors not 24 hours prior: A pop-up camper sat in the yard along with a trampoline and kids’ toys. On the back edge of the property sat a propane tank and pile of logs stacked high.

Court records indicate that Doerman had some contact with police previously, though most charges were related to traffic incidents. In 2010, he was charged with domestic violence after being accused of choking his father, but the case was ultimately dismissed.

Clermont County Prosecutor Mark Tekulve on Friday declined to say if he would seek the death penalty in the case. He said only that all possible charges were being reviewed.

Who are the victims of the shooting in New Richmond?

Little was revealed Friday about the three boys who were killed.

The 7-year-old attended Locust Corner in the New Richmond Exempted School District for kindergarten but withdrew this year, Superintendent Tracey Miller said. Miller said the boy's sister will be a freshman at New Richmond High School.

Miller released a statement that alluded to another tragedy in March, during which a 13-year-old New Richmond middle school student was among four people killed in what officials have classified as a murder-suicide.

Monroe Township Ohio shooting: Father of 3 brothers killed in Clermont County shooting charged with aggravated murder

A 13-year-old New Richmond middle school student was among four people killed in a murder-suicide in March.

Where is Monroe Township, Ohio?

Monroe Township in Clermont County is home to about 7,500 people, according to census data.

It sits on the Ohio River about 25 miles east of Cincinnati and about 11 miles south of Batavia, the seat of Clermont County.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Chad Doerman charged with murder: 3 boys killed New Richmond Ohio