Police investigating a fatal shooting have issued an Amber Alert for a 7-year-old boy taken from the fatal shooting scene Thursday afternoon at the Towne Park apartments on the city’s west side.
The boy is identified as Zane Bedinger, who is 4-feet tall and weighs around 65 pounds. He was last seen wearing a gray swim trunks with black flowers and flip flops. Police said Zane has blond hair and brown eyes and is very tan.
The suspect is Jeff Bedinger, a 50-year-old white male who is 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds. Jeff Bedinger is Zane’s father, according to the Amber Alert. Jeff Bedinger is believed to have fled the scene in a silver 2007 Honda Accord with Ohio license plate EDT 6246. If you see them, call 911. The suspect is considered armed with a 9 mm and dangerous and Zane is in grave danger, according to the alert.
“Do not try to intercede, this subject has been involved in a shooting, and we consider him armed and dangerous. Please call 911 or your local law enforcement authority if you notice the vehicle or this child. Let us do what we do,” Troy Police Capt. Chuck Adams.
A mother lived at the Towne Park Apartment with her two sons — one of whom is dead and the other is Zane, the missing child. Jeff Bendinger is the stepfather to the victim and could be heading to Indianapolis, Troy Det. Capt. Chris Anderson said.
The mother was away from the apartment when the shooting occurred. When she came back, she saw Zane with Jeff Bedinger in the car and found her 22-year-old son shot in the apartment. The victim’s name has not been released.
“Mom was out of the house prior to the shooting and arrived back to find this tragedy,” Anderson said.
The incident happened around 4 p.m. at the apartments located north of Ohio 41 between Experiment Farm Road and Interstate 75.
Dayton police responded at 5:30 p.m. to 553 Shroyer, looking for Bedinger in the story-and-half white bungalow. They closed off a two-block section of Shroyer with eight squad cars.
“He was not there,” Lt. Brian Johns said. Nor was the vehicle or Zane. “Officers forced entry to the house to make sure the boy was not inside,” Johns said.
The victim did not live at the Troy apartment but was visiting, according to Adams, the Troy police captain. Zane lives at the Troy address. Adams said Zane’s mother witnessed the shooting and was able to escape.
Adams said police have asked for it to be a nationwide Amber Alert because the family has relatives out-of-state. Johns said the elder Bedinger had family in Indiana.
Kathleen and Michael Niarhos are neighbors to Jeff Bedinger and his wife. “They are sweet people. They always stopped and talked to us when they walked their dog,” Kathleen Niarhos said. “Our dogs played together.”
The couple said that changed about two weeks ago when the Bedinger and his wife separated. “He told us she took the dog and the boy, Zane, and moved out,” Kathleen Niarhos said.
Her husband said he saw Jeff Bedinger this morning.
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