LEBANON, Ohio – A judge appointed an attorney and entered a “not guilty” plea Wednesday for the man accused of shooting a Warren County deputy.
Mohammed Abdou Laghaoui faces as much as 68 years in prison if he’s convicted of the 10 crimes he’s been charged with committing. Laghaoui appeared in court for arraignment Wednesday. The judge kept Laghaoui’s bond at $2 million.
Deputies said Laghaoui shot his father in the hand and opened fire on Deputy Katie Barnes when she responded to a 911 call from the family's apartment in Deerfield Township on June 9. One of the shots Laghaoui fired that night entered a child's bedroom in a neighboring apartment, according to new evidence Prosecutor David Fornshell announced this week.
According to court documents, neither Laghaoui's family nor Barnes knew Laghaoui was armed with a semi-automatic weapon until the moment he opened fire: first on his father through the closed apartment door, then on a neighbor who witnessed the altercation and then on Barnes.
The bullet struck Barnes’ gun belt and lower abdomen. She was released from the hospital the day after the shooting.
Laghaoui was indicted on charges including two counts of felonious assault, two counts of attempted murder, attempted aggravated murder, two counts of improper handling of a firearm, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and domestic violence.
After the shooting, deputies spent hours searching the area before they found Laghaoui. They said he ditched the gun somewhere and it is still missing. Authorities have asked anyone who finds the weapon to call 911.
