ODNR officer arrested after shooting his own parents in Batavia, police say

CLERMONT COUNTY, Ohio (WXIX) - An Ohio Department of Natural Resources officer is behind bars after he shot both his parents at their Batavia home, according to Union Township police.

Austin Snyder, 25, was off-duty at the time of the shooting, according to an ODNR spokesperson.

Snyder was assigned to ODNR’s post at East Fork Lake State Park last year, according to a report from the Scioto Post.

“If released during the course of the criminal investigation he will not be allowed to return to work,” the ODNR spokesperson said. “We are following the criminal investigation and evaluating the next steps as it relates to his employment.”

The shooting happened shortly before 10:24 p.m. last Friday at a house on Gene Lane, according to the Union Township police incident report.

Officers responded to a call from someone inside the home about a man being drunk and locked out. As officers were heading there, the man made it back into the house, went to a room where guns were stored and shot two people inside a bedroom of the home, according to the incident report.

The officers found a man matching the clothing description of the shooter at the edge of the driveway, the report reads. Officers ordered him to the ground at gunpoint, and he complied, after which they handcuffed him and put him in the cruiser, police say.

One of the officers says the man identified himself as Austin Snyder, and according to the incident report, the officer wrote, “While with the suspect I noticed a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his person. His speech was also slurred.”

The officer says the man had someone else’s blood on his hand. Asked what had happened, the man replied that he didn’t know, according to the report.

One of the victims, a 51-year-old woman, was shot in the wrist and shoulder, the report reads. The other, a 53-year-old man, was shot in the forearm and carried out on a stretcher.

The victims identified themselves as Snyder’s parents. The incident report says Snyder’s father told officers the couple had picked Snyder up because he was too drunk to drive and that at some point he “just went berserk.”

A 22-year-old woman, Snyder’s sister, was also home at the time, police say.

University of Cincinnati Air Care was called but could not respond due to the weather conditions. EMS transported the couple to UC Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

Snyder faces charges of domestic violence, felonious assault and using weapons while intoxicated.

The investigation is ongoing.

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