“On December 20, 2020, Defendant Brian Liming shot and nearly killed an Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) officer with a firearm he was not allowed to have,” a sentencing memorandum filed by federal prosecutors said.
The memorandum says Liming wasn’t supposed to be hunting deer at the time of the shooting, either. The shooting took place in Clinton County.
“Liming had no valid permit to hunt deer and was trespassing on land that he had no permission to be on,” the memorandum said. “Hence, what happened on December 20, 2020, was completely avoidable. What is more, after shooting the officer, Liming chose not to render any aid or assistance but instead fled the scene. Once apprehended, he denied pulling the trigger and created a false story that another was to blame.”
The memorandum says that ODNR received several complaints about people shooting deer from the road and set up a decoy deer to catch those responsible. At that time, Liming and two others were driving in the area intending to go hunting, prosecutors said, and one of Liming’s acquaintances said they saw a deer in the woods. Liming exited the vehicle, the memorandum says.
“Then, he shot (Officer Kevin Behr), who was in the woods approximately 100 feet from the decoy,” the memorandum says. “After he was shot, Officer Behr yelled to stop shooting, that he had been shot, screamed for help, and asked for someone to call 911.”
The memorandum says the officer’s pelvis was shattered and his legs were not working and he worried the man would shoot again. The federal prosecutors said he was severely hurt and Officer Behr thought he was going to die.
Behr did survive but spent months in the hospital and will suffer lifelong effects from the shooting, the memorandum says.
Liming was convicted in Clinton County of felony assault and misdemeanor hunting charges in connection to the shooting, the department of justice said, and he was sentenced to 54 months of incarceration. The federal sentence will be served at the same time as the local one.
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