911 Caller: Solon Car Crash Shooter Fired 'randomly' At First

[Satanica]

http://www.cleveland19.com/story/32854039/police-solon-car-crash-shooter-ran-red-light

SOLON, OH (WOIO) -

A car and an SUV collided at the intersections of Solon and Richmond roads Saturday morning. Both drivers survived the collision, but moments later the car’s driver was dead.

Police say she was shot by the driver of the SUV.

“There's a car flipped over in front of our house and another car on the corner," said Barbara Bartels during a desperate 911 call.

Bartels was reporting the accident in front of her house when she witnessed the driver of an SUV roll out of his flipped jeep with a rifle in hand, shooting.

“He was shooting randomly,” said Bartels.

After a few shots that changed, according to Bartels. She told police he started to take aim at the driver of the other car.

"When our officers arrived they found a man with a rifle in the vicinity. He was taken into custody immediately” said Solon Police Lt. Bruce Felton.

Detectives from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation are trying to figure out exactly what happened. What police know at this point is a 29-year-old North Ridgeville was driving the jeep and failed to stop for the red light. He crashed into the Ford sedan driven by 53-year-old Deborah Pearl of Twinsburg.

Police found Pearl in the street, bleeding. She was rushed to a nearby hospital but died from her injuries.

“We heard about twelve shots,” said Courtney Reese, who was in the vicinity at the time of the incident.

Reece was getting ready to have breakfast with her mom in her new apartment at that very corner.

"After the first shot I heard a woman scream out," said Michelle Reese.

Pearl’s husband, who came to the scene, had plenty of tears and understandably few words. He told Reese and her daughter his wife was on her way to work when this happened -- about 7:30 a.m.

Pearl worked at the Original Harley Diner, where her co-workers and friends -- like her family -- are devastated and left with many questions.
[....]
Police are not releasing the 29-year-old North Ridgeville man’s identity until he makes his first court appearance.

 

[Momzilla]

...she witnessed the driver of an SUV roll out of his flipped jeep with a rifle in hand, shooting.

That's some Terminator shit right there!

Poor lady, sounds like she just happened to be the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

[Satanica]

Or, he went all PTSD and thought he was in a firefight in Afghanistan or something. Very strange, indeed.

 

[Keepalowprofile]

Its just not safe to leave home any more.

 

[Kittyskyfish]

That intersection is literally 15-minutes from my house! I need to watch the local news more.

I want to know what he was doing so far from home with quick access to a loaded rifle in the Jeep. It's not hunting season yet. I bet he had some "business" in the area and the accident interrupted his getaway.
[doublepost=1472499881,1472499201][/doublepost]The suspect is identified as 29-year old Matthew Desha.

Pearl died Saturday after Desha shot her with a 5.56-millimeter rifle, police said.

Officers arrested Desha at the scene without incident.

Pearl left home Saturday morning to head to work at South East Harley Davidson in Bedford Heights, her son told cleveland.com.

Desha ran a red light just after 7:20 a.m. on Solon Road and hit Pearl's Ford Taurus at the intersection of Richmond Road. The impact pushed Pearl's car several feet east onto Solon Road. Desha's Jeep flipped several times and landed on its roof about 50 feet from Pearl's car, police said.

Witnesses said Desha exited his car with a rifle. One witnesses told cleveland.com that Pearl had her hands in the air when Desha shot her several times.

http://www.cleveland.com/solon/index.ssf/2016/08/solon_police_identify_man_char.html

This man was up to NO GOOD before encountering and murdering Pearl, I guarantee it.

 

[Kittyskyfish]

Or, he went all PTSD and thought he was in a firefight in Afghanistan or something. Very strange, indeed.

You nailed it, @Satanica ! I only quoted part of the article, as it is very long. He has a lengthy history of mental instability, drug addiction, and PTSD.

The North Ridgeville man accused in a deadly shooting in Solon is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who has dealt with mental health issues in the years since his discharge, records show.

The North Ridgeville Police Department noted in a report that Matthew R. Desha suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Desha also told Boardman Township officers who arrested him earlier this year that he took medication for anxiety and that he was once addicted to heroin.
[...]

Desha was twice deployed to Iraq while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps from June 2004 to June 2008, military records show.

Police reports compiled over the past eight years suggest that Desha has dealt with mental-health issues in the time since his discharge.

North Ridgeville officers investigating a noise complaint at Desha's house on May 5, 2011 were warned that he suffered from PTSD and slept with a loaded gun under his pillow, according to a police report.

Officers arrested him July 4, 2011 after a neighbor reported seeing him with a pistol. A woman later told officers she asked Desha to point the pistol at her head so she could take pictures as a prank.

But the officers charged him with using a weapon while intoxicated after a breath test showed he had a .227 blood-alcohol content, according to a police report.
[...]
Desha has also had run-ins with law enforcement in other counties. In Mahoning County, he faces a carrying concealed weapons charge stemming from a May 30 traffic stop in Boardman Township, court records show.

Desha told a Boardman Township officer that he was taking medication for anxiety issues and that he was previously addicted to heroin, according to a police report from the incident.

http://www.cleveland.com/solon/index.ssf/2016/08/solon_shooting_suspect_is_mari.html

 

[Muriel Schwenck]

It's like suicide by cop but he chickened out when cops arrived.

 

[Momzilla]

A woman later told officers she asked Desha to point the pistol at her head so she could take pictures as a prank

Seriously wtf?
Have a mentally unstable drunk guy point a gun at ur head for funsies??

"Ha ha look he's aiming that gun right at my head isn't this the funniest prank ev--"
BANG!!!

 

[Podargus]

I wonder if he had a legal right to own an assault rifle?

 

[Sejanus]

North Ridgeville...lol
that's not a name, that's a village!
Total bone smoking dickweed.
A pity he was taken alive

 

[CbabyRKO]

I love it how everyone knew this guy was certifiable yet he still had access to guns. He was in essence a ticking time bomb and those who escaped his acquaintance unscathed should be forever grateful.

 

[CRWX]

Detectives from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation are trying to figure out exactly what happened. What police know at this point is a 29-year-old North Ridgeville was driving the jeep and failed to stop for the red light. He crashed into the Ford sedan driven by 53-year-old Deborah Pearl of Twinsburg.

Police found Pearl in the street, bleeding. She was rushed to a nearby hospital but died from her injuries.

“We heard about twelve shots,” said Courtney Reese, who was in the vicinity at the time of the incident.

This is a tragedy but it's not too terribly surprising. Buckeyes can't drive well OR shoot straight.

 

[JackBurton]

dealt with mental health issues in the years since his discharge, records show.
The North Ridgeville Police Department noted in a report that Matthew R. Desha suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Desha also told Boardman Township officers who arrested him earlier this year that he took medication for anxiety and that he was once addicted to heroin.

He shouldn't have been permitted to own a firearm.

But the officers charged him with using a weapon while intoxicated

he faces a carrying concealed weapons charge stemming from a May 30 traffic stop in Boardman Township, court records show.

Every weapon he owned should have been confiscated.

I despise the gov't and think less is more, but it's about time we stop coddling irresponsible assholes an mentally feeble(i mean ill) people. We got people rubbing shit on the walls yet they're permitted to own guns. Ridiculous. I will never grasp why people feel so much sympathy and walk on eggshells around nutbags. These people should have rights stripped away, first and foremost the one to bear arms.

 

[Satanica]

I don't know about all their rights, but they should definitely have some limitations and open access to mental health care.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Deborah Pearl was driving her car through the intersection of Solon Road and Richmond Road in August of 2016.

Matthew Desha went through a light and struck her car. He then got out with an AR-15 rifle and began shooting; 22 shots in all.

He hit and killed Pearl, but this was no road rage incident.

In the 18 months since the murder, Desha has gone through a battery of psychological tests.

Both the prosecution and the defense were in agreement: He is not competent to stand trial.

A psychiatrist described his vision in the time before the murder saying, “When he went outside immediately prior to the incident, he saw several UFOs with flashing lights.”

A frightening fact revealed for the first time in court is that before the crash and murder, Desha had driven into Cleveland looking for people he deemed to be the enemy and kill them. He was high on the psychotic drug MDMA, one abused for recreational use at the time of the murder.

Over time, his symptoms only got worse.

The question is what to do with him. The solution was one that all agreed on.

He was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He will spend life detained at Northcoast Behavioral in what is called a civil confinement.

Pearl’s family agrees with the decision.

Man suffering from PTSD gets life sentence in mental hospital for deadly Solon shooting

Man not guilty by reason of insanity will spend life in mental institution.

www.cleveland19.com

 

[Satanica]

Fair enough. At least he's away from society now.

 

[Keepalowprofile]

He got fat.