Reeling Ohio law enforcement community bids another farewell

CINCINNATI – The Latest on funeral services for Ohio deputy (all times local):

11:45 a.m.

The Cincinnati region’s law enforcement community is bidding farewell to the latest of five police officers to die in less than two months.

Tributes for 20-year-old Clermont County sheriff’s deputy Bill Brewer included one on the U.S. House floor from Rep. Brad Wenstrup, a Republican. Wenstrup said Brewer “died trying to a help a member of his community.”

Sheriff Steve Leahy told a packed church Friday he is “devastated” by Brewer’s loss. He says Brewer gave his life as he lived it, “as a hero.” A procession to a cemetery was planned following funeral services.

Brewer was gunned down last weekend after responding to a suspected suicide attempt by a man barricaded inside an apartment. Another officer was wounded in the leg before a man was arrested.

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6:25 a.m.

Authorities in the Cincinnati region are reeling after the deaths of five police officers in less than two months.

Funeral services and a procession to the cemetery were set Friday for the latest to die. Twenty-year Clermont County sheriff’s deputy Bill Brewer was gunned down last weekend while responding to a suspected suicide attempt by a man barricaded inside an apartment. Another officer was wounded in the leg before a man was taken into custody at the apartment complex.

The Hamilton County coroner says she has been wearing a black mourning band over her badge since Dec. 17, when the string of deaths began.

Lakshmi Sammarco (lak-SCHMEE’ suh-MAHR’-coh) has been the Cincinnati-based coroner since 2012. She can’t think of any comparable period for so many police deaths so close together.