CLEARCREEK TWP., Ohio — In the moment shots were exchanged between 65-year-old Mark Evers and Clearcreek Township officer Sgt. Nicole Cordero on Tuesday night, Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell said it's possible Evers may have fatally shot himself.
"When we were out at the scene on Tuesday night, obviously we knew we had a exchange of gunfire between Mr. Evers, the deceased, as well as Sgt. Cordero," said Fornshell. "There were multiple shots that were fired and we knew that when medics arrived on scene that Mr. Evers was deceased. The belief at that particular point in time was that Mr. Evers' wounds were inflicted by the gunshots fired by Sgt. Cordero. However, yesterday, post-autopsy, I received a heads up from the coroner's office that one of the gunshot wounds that Mr. Evers suffered was a contact wound to his head."
Fornshell said the contact wound had to have been caused by the barrel of a gun making direct contact with Evers' skin and that Cordero was not close enough to Evers when she fired her gun to create that kind of wound.
However, Fornshell said Evers also suffered a gunshot wound to his abdomen that would have been fatal as well. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations, called in by Clearcreek Township police to investigate the shooting, will need to determine whether the head wound or the abdomen wound was fired first and thus was the cause of Evers' death, Fornshell said.
Evers suffered multiple gunshot wounds, but Fornshell would not say how many. He said that and other details would have to wait for the completion of BCI's investigation and report.
Clearcreek officer Eric Ney was shot in the head during the incident and Evers, shot by Cordero, was determined dead at the scene.
Ney was flown to Miami Valley Hospital, where the 14-year veteran continues to recover. On Thursday, Clearcreek Township Police Chief John Terrill said Ney will still require more surgeries, but that he regained consciousness on Wednesday and was on his feet on Thursday, able to brush his teeth.
Terrill said Ney was hit by one bullet across the face.
Officers were initially called to the the home after Evers' wife called police and told them her husband was ramming her car with an ATV after the couple had had a verbal argument.
Terrill said when officers arrived, they observed Evers doing just that. On dash camera footage, Cordero can be seen approaching Evers, who was still seated in the ATV. The engine of the ATV revved and Cordero asked Evers to turn the vehicle off multiple times. Terrill said it's unclear whether Evers was attempting to flee or if the revving was accidental.
Watch the full press conference and dash camera footage below:
Cordero then orders Evers, who begins to bail out of the side of the ATV, to put a gun away just before shots are fired. Ney, standing to the front of the ATV, can be seen falling to the ground while Cordero fires her gun at Evers.
Terrill said officers had been out to Evers' home multiple times for neighbor disputes; During one call, when officers knocked on Evers' door, he answered it while holding a gun, Terrill said. Another dispute with a neighbor involved reports of Evers with a rifle.
Court documents show that Evers faced a prior felony assault charge in 1999, which resulted in a no contact order.
Evers was a horse trainer and harness horse driver whose team won a Breeder's Crown in 2021. Ohio's Harness Horse Racing Association confirmed Evers was a member of the organization.
Terrill said Clearcreek Township has never had a shooting involving an officer before. He said there had been previous officer deaths, including officer Jerrid Lee who was killed by a drunk driver while off-duty.
