When sheriff’s officials and family members spoke with Samuel Ericksen about the photo of a gun he texted to a woman he met on a dating app, they noticed some red flags in his behavior.
After a 20-minute conversation on the patio of his family home in Anderson Township on Aug. 8, a Hamilton County sheriff’s deputy told Ericksen’s parents their son was being evasive and overly eager to please.
“I’m not an expert,” Deputy William Woltermann is heard saying on body camera footage, “but I’m in my 35th year doing this.
“Something’s not right.”
As they waited for a crisis counselor to arrive, Susan Ericksen told deputies her 26-year-old son lied to her about owning a gun. It was uncharacteristic of him, she said. He was private about his life, sure, but he’d never given her a minute’s trouble. She questioned whether her son should be held at a psychiatric facility.
Samuel Ericksen said he had no mental health diagnoses. He was feeling overwhelmed from stress at work, he said, but he wasn’t suicidal.
After a 10-minute conversation with a crisis counselor, he took a business card and said he’d consider reaching out for therapy.
Twenty-three days later, Cincinnati police said Ericksen shot and killed four young adults, including himself, at a Mount Washington apartment building on Beacon Street with the same model of gun he told officials he recently bought.
Ericksen killed the woman he texted the photo to − Eden Adugna, 22 − along with her sister Feven Adugna, 20, and Bemnet Deresse, 27, before turning the gun on himself.
Why couldn’t officials take Ericksen’s gun?
Cincinnati police attended a vigil on Beacon Street in Mount Washington to mourn the loss of Bemnet Deresse and sisters Eden and Feven Adugna after they were fatally shot at an apartment complex Aug. 31.
“He had no history of violence. He had no mental health issues. He seemed to have it all together,” said Samuel Ericksen’s mom in a statement to The Enquirer. “How this happened I do not know and I do not understand.”
Despite Susan Ericksen’s suggestion her son be hospitalized, he wasn’t.
“The only way we can commit somebody is if they state that they’re suicidal or they can’t take care of their own well-being,” Woltermann told Susan Ericksen. “But it sounds like obviously he can.”
While involuntary commitment requires a court hearing, Ohio law also allows police to request a psychiatric evaluation and 72-hour hospital hold for people who pose a danger to themselves or others.
Eden Adugna said Samuel Ericksen sent her a photo of a gun on Aug. 3. She called police five days later after waking up from a nap to his suicidal text, according to audio from the Cincinnati Police Department.
“I have scheduled this message to send for after I’m dead so you don’t have to worry about me anymore,” Eden Adugna read to a Cincinnati police operator. “I’m sorry that I care so much about you.”
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement to The Enquirer that it lacked the legal authority to take Ericksen’s gun because he was not under arrest and had no legal restrictions. The gun stayed in his parents’ house where he lived, now locked in his parents’ gun safe, according to body camera footage.
Ericksen told officials he bought a Taurus TX 22 handgun. Cincinnati police said Ericksen used the same model in the Aug. 31 shooting.
“I wanted something that’d be easy shooting at the range,” Samuel Ericksen told a deputy, “and that’s what the guy at the gun store told me.”
Can police take your gun in Ohio?
Candles were lit and balloons were released at a vigil in memory of Bemnet Deresse and sisters Eden and Feven Adugna after they were fatally shot Aug. 31.
Ohio is not one of the 21 states with laws allowing government officials to temporarily remove guns from those who may pose a threat to themselves and others, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, an advocacy group that aims to reduce gun violence through reform, research and education.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine promoted the Buckeye State’s own so-called “red flag” law as part of a package following 2019 a mass shooting, but the law didn’t pass.
Despite 2023 polling showing popular approval from Ohioans, the state has distanced itself from red flag laws. Ohio’s Attorney General Dave Yost joined 18 other states in opposing federal efforts to promote red flag laws in 2024.
“The solution to gun violence is not more bureaucracy,” Yost said in a statement, “and it is certainly not parting otherwise law-abiding men and women from their right to self-defense.”
In a statement, Alison Shih, senior counsel for the Everytown, said Ohio’s lack of gun safety laws “is leaving law enforcement powerless when it comes to preventing a mass tragedy even when perpetrators show warning signs.”
Seeking a restraining order makes it possible for someone to have their gun taken by the courts, according to Amber Malott, vice president of programming for Women Helping Women, a group that works to reduce gender-based violence. However, the process is slow and requires individuals to see a potential abuser one more time face-to-face.
Eden Adugna did not have a protection order against Samuel Ericksen, according to a review of Hamilton County court records.
Who did Samuel Ericksen kill?
Community members brought flowers, stuffed animals and photos of the three young adults killed in the Aug. 31 shooting.
Eden Adugna, Feven Adugna and Bemnet Deresse were all members of Cincinnati’s small Ethiopian community. Each had budding professional and academic careers.
Tizita Adugna, aunt to Eden and Feven, said their mother was killed by their father when the sisters were 7 and 9 years old. Tizita Adugna said she raised the sisters alongside their grandmother.
The Adugna sisters moved to the United States from Ethiopia with dreams of becoming doctors, said Tizita Adugna. They worked at Good Samaritan Hospital before they were killed.
Bemnet Deresse, who studied biology and engineering at the University of Cincinnati, had just started a job as a quality engineer in Louisville. At a vigil, coworkers and friends spoke about his constant willingness to help and kind demeanor.
Community leader Araya Amsalu, who helped coordinate a vigil following the shooting, said knowing Eden had gone to law enforcement about Ericksen before made the shooting feel even more cruel.
“She didn’t get the protection she deserves,” he said.
Matthew Cupelli is a breaking news reporter for The Enquirer. You can email him at mcupelli@enquirer.com and follow his work on X @MatthewCupelli.
If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit 988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Despite red flags, officers couldn’t take gun from man who killed 3