Gov. Mike DeWine has ordered U.S. and Ohio flags on public buildings in Lorain County—including the Ohio Statehouse, Vern Riffe Center and Rhodes State Office Tower—to be flown at half-staff in honor of fallen Lorain Police Officer Phillip Wagner, according to a statement released Thursday evening.
Wagner died Thursday at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland after being shot in an ambush attack the previous afternoon that also wounded two other officers. Wagner, 35, had joined the department in 2022.
The flag-lowering order will remain in effect until sunset on the day of Wagner’s funeral. DeWine’s office added that other public buildings and grounds may also choose to lower flags during this period at their discretion.
In his remarks earlier, DeWine called the shooting a “targeted attack on law enforcement,” and expressed sorrow at the loss of Wagner, urging Ohioans to come together in honoring his service.
