A Lorain police officer killed in the line of duty last year was honored at a statewide ceremony Thursday.
LONDON, Ohio - A Lorain police officer killed in the line of duty last year was honored at a statewide ceremony Thursday. His name was added to the Ohio Fallen Officers Memorial Wall alongside three other officers who gave their lives in 2025 during the Ohio Peace Officers Memorial Ceremony .
The sound of a 21-gun salute and taps could be heard throughout the crowd after each officers name was read aloud. Ofc. Phillip Wagner, one of the three Lorain Police Department officers who were shot in an ambush on Wednesday afternoon, has died.
“Last year, 10 children were suddenly left without a father. Four grandchildren without their grandfather. Three wives without their husbands. One fiancée without her beloved.
That kind of cost can’t be measured,” said Fayette County Sheriff Vernon Stanforth. Wagner joined the Lorain Police Department after four years in the Marines, including a combat deployment to Afghanistan. Wagner and another officer were ambushed as they sat in their cruisers on a lunch break. He was just 35 years old and the first Lorain officer killed in the line of duty since 1944.
“Phil didn’t like being called a hero coming back from deployment because he felt that the heroes were the ones who laid down their lives for others. Well Phil, you’re a hero,” said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. Shortly before he was killed, Wagner told his wife he was considering becoming a pastor, a refuge for fellow officers struggling to find hope.
“Each of these officers we are remembering today had something unique and wonderful to offer his family, his friends, and his community. We will never forget Phil,” Stanforth said. Eight hundred forty-four names are engraved on the Ohio Fallen Officers Memorial Wall. Wagner’s name, along with three other officers now joins them.
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