Wife Says Man Who Shot Ohio Officer "Snapped"

[Ken [NY]]

Wife Says Man Who Shot Ohio Officer "Snapped"

Columbus, OH - 9/2/2001

Columbus Dispatch

Before leaving home to begin what would be his final shift as a
Whitehall cop, Terry McDowell called his wife, Angela, to say goodbye.

"I was out getting some stuff for my job and he called me on my
cellphone to let me know he was leaving for work,'' Mrs. McDowell
said.

"He said he'd talk to me soon and he loved me.''

A few hours later, McDowell and Officer Eric Brill were shot when they
attempted to deliver a traffic citation to Bela and Anna Mozer at
their home, 142 Beechbank Rd.

McDowell, a 35-year-old husband and father of two, died on Aug. 24. He
was an eight-year veteran of the Whitehall force. Brill, who joined
the department last year, was shot in the eye and is recovering at
Grant Medical Center.

Bela Mozer, a 54-year-old Hungarian immigrant, killed himself rather
than surrender to police who had surrounded his home, officers said.

Mozer's wife, Anna, who witnessed the shooting of the police officers,
said her husband had had run-ins with police in the past, and he
snapped when the two officers arrived at their home to deliver the
citation for her.

Mrs. Mozer, speaking through an interpreter, apologized to the
families of McDowell and Brill.

"I'm very, very sorry for what happened. My heartfelt wishes go out to
the families,'' Mrs. Mozer told WBNS-TV (Channel 10) on Friday.
"Somehow or another my husband wasn't well. He snapped and yes, I am
very sorry.''

Angela McDowell, who spoke publicly yesterday for the first time since
the shooting, would not respond to Mrs. Mozer's apology. She also
declined to directly discuss the shooting and the events leading up to
it.

"There is an ongoing investigation and therefore I will not comment on
any aspect regarding the case,'' Mrs. McDowell said, speaking at the
Columbus office of her attorney, Michael Shannon.

She did express her family's gratitude for the support of relatives
and friends, as well as that of Whitehall residents, the city's police
and fire departments and law-enforcement agencies around the state.

"Whitehall has been named the city of pride and now everybody knows
why,'' Mrs. McDowell said.

The couple's 8-year-old son, Seth, received a football from Ohio State
University coach Jim Tressel and the Buckeye team.

Her eyes filled with tears as she discussed how Seth and his 11-
month-old sister, Taylor, are coping with the loss of their father.

"I think my son is still subconsciously waiting for him to come
home,'' Mrs. McDowell said.

The family recently returned from a vacation at Myrtle Beach, S.C.,
where McDowell had taught his son how to body surf in the ocean, his
wife said.

The couple met during their high- school days -- she attended Watkins
Memorial and he, Groveport.

They married on Oct. 9, 1992.

Like many spouses of law-enforcement officers, Mrs. McDowell said she
was aware of the dangers associated with her husband's job, but she
didn't dwell on them.

"When Terry would get ready for work every day, when he put on that
uniform, I would look at him and I would think to myself, 'He is going
to be OK today because he has had extensive training. He is very aware
of things around him.'

"Unfortunately, this was an unforeseeable event.''

At 6-feet and 190 pounds, McDowell kept physically fit by lifting
weights. He won several medals in the Battle of the Badges, an annual
physical-fitness competition among law-enforcement officers. He was a
sniper on the Whitehall SWAT unit.

"I didn't worry about Terry. I was very proud. I knew he had what it
took,'' Mrs. McDowell said.

He also was not one to let down his guard, she said. He had referred
to Whitehall -- surrounded by Columbus and just east of upscale Bexley
-- as sort of a melting pot, she said.

"It was kind of diverse and had all types of crime,'' Mrs. McDowell
said. "So when you approached anything, you approached it with
caution.''

Police said there was no warning before Mozer shot McDowell and Brill
as they approached the front door of his home.

In her television interview, Mrs. Mozer said her husband's anger
toward police had been building for about a year.

"He had this thing that he didn't like the cops because of what
happened in the past,'' she said of her husband of 28 years.

Whitehall police had arrested Bela Mozer several times on traffic and
other charges, including disorderly conduct and assault.

Mrs. Mozer and her daughter Judith Mikola, who recently immigrated to
Columbus, described Mr. Mozer as a vivacious man who knew five trades
and loved cooking and dancing -- before his legs were crushed in a
traffic accident three years ago.

After that, he changed and became extremely depressed.

Earlier on the day of the shooting, Mr. Mozer had been arrested and
taken to the Whitehall police station for allegedly driving drunk.

His wife drove to the station to get him and was told not to drive
away because she had no valid license. She drove anyway, police said.

Mrs. Mozer said Friday she didn't know her license was suspended.

McDowell and Brill arrived at the house to give Mrs. Mozer a ticket.
When her husband saw the officers, he "went off the deep end'' and
went to another room to grab a gun, she said.

Mr. Mozer used a .357-caliber Magnum handgun to kill McDowell, wound
Brill and then to commit suicide. The gun was later traced to a former
neighbor, Joseph E. Buker, 52, who was found dead Feb. 3 in his half
of the duplex.

Police are investigating whether Mozer was involved in Buker's
slaying.

Mrs. Mozer said her husband couldn't have killed Buker because the men
were friends.

Another reason Mrs. Mozer thinks her husband didn't kill Buker is
because, "He wouldn't have been able to keep it a secret. It would
have affected him.''

Ken [NY]
--
Chairperson,
Department of Redundancy Department
____________________________________

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To be is to do - Sartre
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[colmari...@aol.com]

This is starting Mozer daughter! She found guy to married with so she can get green card! That day she going to Mozer apartmant and ask him to drive her and her boy friend to airport! Mozer tell her his feel not good and anyway his drinking all very! Mozer wife come home and she say she do not drive her to airport because she tired so finally Mozer go to with her daughter because she is pushing him! This is how start this whole tragedy ! And i think yes Mozer kill his neighbor and got his gun! Investigation not was full ! If Mozer daughter not pushing him to drive her to airport this is not happening! If Mozer wife scream Officers acting differently and may be this is not happening!