As 11-year-old Scott Dieter and an unidentified adult ran for their lives from a man who had already shot and killed five people, they found refuge in a neighbor’s house on Schocalog Road.The man ran upstairs and jumped out a window.Scott went into the basement to hide with a woman and her three children.But Michael E. Hance, who was chasing them with two .45-caliber handguns, forced his way into the home, went to the basement and held the woman at gunpoint, demanding to know where Scott was.Authorities weren’t sure Monday night what was said, but Hance shoved the woman aside and she fled with two of her children. In the confusion and panic, her 9-year-old boy remained behind.Hance found Scott and shot him in front of the other boy, who was so close that he was splattered by the blood.Then, Hance left the house and was shot to death by police.Authorities said Monday they didn’t know what caused Hance — a 51-year-old man with no apparent violent criminal history — to go on his cold-blooded rampage Sunday morning in the quiet Copley Township neighborhood. But neighbors told the Associated Press that he grew irritated about a month ago when asked by next-door neighbor Gudrun “Gerdie” Johnson to clean up his property, which included a broken-down car on blocks.Johnson related the encounter to neighbor Carol Eshleman, explaining that she’d never seen Hance so upset. “He said, ‘Get off my property and don’t come back,’ ’’
Eshleman said.Copley Township police Chief Michael Mier said authorities do not know whether reports that the shootings began after an argument Sunday are true.“The rumor of the argument could stem from people screaming and the gravity and the emotion of the situation and people being pursued by a gunman,” he said at a news conference Monday.In addition to Scott Dieter, Gudrun Johnson, 64; her husband, Russell Johnson, 67; their son Bryan Johnson, 44, their granddaughter Autumn M. Johnson, 16; the granddaughter’s teenage friend, whose name has not be released by authorities; and Scott’s father, Craig Dieter, 51, were killed.Hance’s girlfriend, Rebecca K. “Becky” Dieter, 49, also was and is in an area hospital. Her condition, which has not been released, has prevented her from talking with authorities.Mier said the shootings took place at four locations along Goodenough Avenue and Schocalog Road. Authorities still are unsure about the exact sequence of events, although they know that Scott Dieter was shot last.They also know the rampage happened quickly.The first 911 call came in at 10:56 a.m. Within 10 minutes, Hance had been shot to death.MotiveMier said police have not found a criminal record for Hance and there had been no previous reports of disturbances at the Dieter or Johnson homes. It is believed that Hance lived both at Rebecca Dieter’s home and at a home in Akron.He owned the guns but did not have a conceal-carry permit.Hance had worked at a printer’s shop in Akron but quit after a dispute and didn’t work again, Eshleman said, although Rebecca Dieter urged him to find a job.He was a little slow but often read textbooks on diseases and medical procedures and tried to get others interested, she said. He also made and drank odd health concoctions and claimed he didn’t have to work because he was an inventor, Eshleman said.He also seemed constantly under stress, trying to deal with the possessions of relatives who had recently died, said Eshleman, a 64-year-old driver for public school special education students.“Mike was strange,” she said, but “I wouldn’t think he’d go to this extreme.”The dispute apparently dated to the deaths of Rebecca and Craig Dieters’ parents a couple of years ago, said Eshleman, who cared for the Dieters’ parents. Craig Dieter wanted to sell the house, but instead Hance and Rebecca Dieter moved in, Eshleman said.Robin Hancock, who also cared for the Dieters’ parents, told the Associated Press that Hance was an unpleasant, disliked person whose confrontational style led her to stop working for the couple.“He was quiet and strange,” said Hancock, 53, of Akron, who concurred that there was tension over the ownership of the property in Copley.Gudrun Johnson spoke frequently of how odd she found Hance, said Sherri Moore, a friend who now lives in nearby Wadsworth.Craig and his wife Beth Dieter had driven to Copley from their home in Richwood, Ky., to work on the property dispute and were visiting the Johnsons when the shooting occurred, Eshleman said.Running awayAuthorities said that Autumn’s father, Bryan, and Scott Dieter ran in different directions when the shooting started. Bryan made it about 500 yards before Hance caught up with him and gunned him down.Hance then doubled back, apparently looking for Scott, police said, and spotted him running across the street, searching for a haven.The child thought he found refuge at the neighbor’s home.On Monday, Monique Bagley pointed to the door lock Hance shot open to get inside her mother’s house in search of Scott.She said her sister, Melonie, who had called 911 and said someone had shot out a window, took her three children and Scott to a room in the basement.Hance shot off the lock and came storming into the house looking for the boy.“My sister said the man kicked the door down and put the gun to her head and he kept asking, ‘Where’s the little boy with the jersey?’ My sister said, ‘He’s not here. He’s not here.’ But the man said, ‘I know he’s in here. I saw him come in here.’ ”9-year-old sees killingBagley said the boy was shot in front of her 9-year-old nephew. She said she tried to console him. “I rushed right over. I thought it was a friend of my nephew’s but he didn’t know the boy. He was just trying to help him,” Bagley said. “My nephew said he was standing up and the little boy was sitting down asking him to please help him and to call the police. [Her nephew] said he saw the man [Hance] come in with a flashlight on his key chain as if he was searching, shining it around to see who was in the room and he asked the man if he was there to help them.”The man then identified Scott and shot him.“I can’t imagine what that little boy went through. He’s thinking he was safe and the man still comes in and gets him,” Bagley said. “It’s sad. I feel for the family.”At the news conference, authorities gave the impression that Scott Dieter had been alone in the basement. But Summit County sheriff’s spokesman William Holland confirmed Bagley’s version late Monday.Scott Dieter wasn’t the only one cornered when killed.Autumn and her friend, also 16 and a township resident, tried to hide in a vehicle at her grandparents’ home, where both girls were living. Hance found the girls, shot the windows out of the minivan and killed them both.Neither girl was in the driver’s seat, said Copley police Detective Joe Krunich, who is the lead detective in the case.Police used 911 calls to pinpoint the location of the shooter.Citizen encounters gunmanA Copley police officer and a private citizen who used to be a police officer encountered Hance outside after he had shot Scott Dieter.Mier said the officers gave commands to Hance, and when he did not respond and it appeared he might be reaching for his gun, he was shot. The early indication from the investigation is that Hance was shot by the Copley officer, Mier said.A neighbor, Chris Yerkey, 20, said he saw Hance follow Scott into the house. In a matter of moments, he heard gunshots, then an officer arrived.“I heard the officer tell the gunman to drop the gun, and to get down on the ground. I heard more gunshots, then silence,” Yerkey said.Sheriff’s officials have yet to interview the officer, whose name hasn’t been released.Because of the size of the crime scene, multiple police agencies are involved in the investigation, including Akron, the sheriff’s office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.Sheriff’s officials are handling the location where Scott Dieter was killed and where Hance was shot. Part of the probe by the sheriff involves how the officer handled the shooting.Akron and state authorities are overseeing the two other crime scenes. Copley police are coordinating the overall probe.Copley School Superintendent Brian Poe said a team of about 20 staff members, including counselors, psychologists and administrators, will meet with anyone in the community who is seeking counseling. The team will be available at the school from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today, and by appointment the rest of the week. For information, call 330-664-4822.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Kathy Antoniotti can be reached at 330-996-3565 or kantoniotti@thebeaconjournal.com.