Lorain/Elyria, OH
Deputy: Attorney was shot by son
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Click here to listen to the 911 call. (WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE).
ELYRIA — Former Chief Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Jonathan Rosenbaum had no feeling below his waist Sunday, a day after he was shot in the back by his 23-year-old son, said sheriff’s Capt. Richard Resendez.
But doctors at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, where Rosenbaum was upgraded Sunday to serious condition, don’t know yet whether the paralysis is permanent, Resendez said.
Rosenbaum was shooting clay pigeons Sunday with his son at the Sportsmen Gun & Reel Club on Middle Ridge Road in Amherst Township when he was shot in the upper-middle right area of his back, Resendez said.
His son, Aaron Rosenbaum, told deputies that he was trying to clear a jammed shell in the semiautomatic 12-gauge shotgun he was using when the gun went off.
“He was trying to clear that shell, and in the process of trying to do that, his gun discharged and struck his dad in the back,” Resendez said.
Aaron Rosenbaum had just stepped back from the firing line at the one-shot station where he and his father were shooting, and the elder Rosenbaum was on the firing line when he was hit, Resendez said.
Rosenbaum told deputies when he was interviewed Sunday that he initially didn’t realize he had been shot when he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, Resendez said. He then collapsed on the ground.
Two people called 911. One caller, a woman, told the 911 dispatcher that a father had been accidentally shot by his son.
A hysterical Aaron Rosenbaum also called to report the shooting.
“I need an ambulance. I just shot my father in the back. I’m very sorry,” the younger Rosenbaum frantically tells the dispatcher.
Aaron Rosenbaum can be heard on a tape of the 911 call repeatedly apologizing to his father, who tells his son not to say anything to anyone about the shooting.
The conversation is muffled, but Aaron Rosenbaum can be heard telling his father that he was angry before the shooting and then Jonathan Rosenbaum asks his son whether the shooting was intentional.
“You (expletive) shot me on purpose?” the former prosecutor demands to know.
“No, I did not,” Aaron Rosenbaum responds. “I’m sorry.”
“You liar,” Jonathan Rosenbaum then said, to which his son replied, “I did not shoot you on purpose.”
The 911 dispatch center then loses the call and calls Aaron Rosenbaum back. He then tells the dispatcher to hurry and that his father doesn’t want him talking to her.
Distraught, Aaron Rosenbaum continues to apologize to his father and says he’ll never shoot again. He can also be heard telling his father what happened.
“The shell was jammed in the gun, and I was trying to get it out, and it just went off,” Aaron Rosenbaum can be heard saying.
Resendez said Jonathan Rosenbaum told deputies Sunday that he doesn’t recall accusing his son of shooting him deliberately.
“Jon is adamant that this is an accident,” Resendez said.
Resendez said the investigation is still ongoing, but Aaron Rosenbaum could face negligence charges in the shooting after the case is reviewed by prosecutors from Oberlin Municipal Court.
Jonathan Rosenbaum is an avid shooter, Resendez said, who loads his own shells — including the No. 9 buckshot shell he was shot with — and went to the gun club about three times every week.
Aaron Rosenbaum, who Resendez said has had medical issues in the past, often accompanied his father to the club.
“This boy, Aaron, idolized his father,” Resendez said.
But on Saturday, Aaron Rosenbaum was not using the over-under shotgun he typically used because the stock was being refinished, Resendez said. Instead, he had borrowed the semiautomatic shotgun from his father.
Resendez said he expects the investigation to be completed this week.
Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.
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wow, called his own son a liar. Must of thought he was grilling a defendant.
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My sincere sympathy on the injuries Jon received through this incident, and I pray that they leave no permenant damages to his physical well being.
However, I am a firm beleaver of “What goes around, comes around”.
From Jon’s comments, overheard in the 911 call, he still maintains the self rightious attitude he displayed as Greg Whites “Persecutor” , who prosecuted many cases with a keen edge on his sword of justice while failing to be tempered with compassion and mercy.
Once an ass, always an ass.
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RJR I could not of said it any better and agree what comes around goes around , this piece of work finally got what was coming to him , and who knows , this might just be the beginning. And I wouldn’t be surprised the Kid has issues after being raised by someone with his father’s attitude and outlook towards others … poor kid
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I just find that a pretty *weird* conversation to be having after an accidental shooting. Neither one of them actually knew if the dad was going to live or die, so I find that conversation a bit far fetched, *you (blank) shot me on purpose, *I was angry with you, etc, and then not being allowed to talk to the 911 operator after YOU called her for help.. hmmmmm
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Could Rosenbaum be covering up for his son in criminal contempt, could this be a Prosecutable offince, wow that would be a sweet gig.
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Haxor,How much time did you do when Rosenbaum prosecuted you case in court?
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Aaron Rosenbaum can be heard on a tape of the 911 call repeatedly apologizing to his father, who tells his son not to say anything to anyone about the shooting.
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This is an ex prosecutor telling his son this? What the he** is that about? Something very wrong with this whole story. Accidents happen, but, like someone up there stated this kid is a loose cannon. My God that is scary as he**, and he has a gun in his hand? Can’t wait to see how this plays out.
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First off how could you get shot in the back w/ a 12 gauge and not know you were shot, second he’s clearly setting a defense for his son,and third I don’t know the story on the Rosenbuams’ so is this tell of like father like son..
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Haxor:
“Could Rosenbaum be covering up for his son in criminal contempt, could this be a Prosecutable offince, wow that would be a sweet gig.”
What are you talking about? What is a prosecutable offense? God, you’re dumb.
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WOW…. I wondered what the conversation was when the phone MYSTERIOUSLY went dead???? Seems when Junior got back on the phone it was a TOTAL change of voice tone etc. This whole thing is weird. Why would dad THINK he was shot intentionally? Why the “GAG” order to his son….
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The son has brain damage and major behavior problems due to a brain tumor as a child.
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Seriously, this reeks.
But, my family has been waiting over 20 years for something like this to happen.
After destroying the life of my hard working wrongly accused,(and proven innocent) father and ultimately terrorizing my entire family, he finally gets a dose of pain.
I got a phone message from my mother about this, as I don’t live in Elyria anymore, and all I can say is I was positively elated at the news.
I feel like a bad person for feeling this way, but I hope if nothing else, that he feels some pain that could even remotely match the pain he caused my family.
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No one should feel the least bit bad about the abscence of any compassion for this man, his son. and his entire family for that matter. As you can see from the comments posted above and in the other article released the day before, the public sentiment screams PAYBACK!
I am not concerned about Jon Rosenbaum’s critical condition (could care less if he ever rcovers) nor am I concerned about the impact this will have on the rest of his screwed up son’s pathetic life.
Everyone would have been better off if they let the kid die from his cancer and Jon Rosenbaum to have continued with his early pusuit in biology where he would never have been in a position to harm so many people.
But no, instead he is indignant along with the rest of his family by enabling their mentally challenged son by pretending nothing is wrong with him, all the while throwing a shotgun in his hand to fire three times every week. By the way, how does an experienced shooter accidently shoot their own father in the back?
I am more concerned about the integrity of this investigation. Did anyone notice how the police failed to place Aaron Rosenbaum under arrest and bring him into custody? Had this better any other father son duo with the evidence on the 911 recordings, that young man would have been placed under arrest immediateley.
No instead they issue statements saying things like “due to Jon’s long standing relationship with the prosecutor’s office, we’ll just finish investigation, give it to the prosecutor’s office and let them decide what to do.
This is code language essentially saying “we are going to sweep this under the rug and pretend like none of this ever happened.”
This is an outrage. The case should be remanded to another jurisdiction for review.
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Why did Greg White ask Jon Rosenbaum for his resignation in 2002? Anyone have the details on this?
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Thank you Poet and HalBlotnick.
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I can be reached at http://www.bronish4@yahoo.com. Please feel free to contact me outside of this page. Nancy is a wonderful person, she never would have hurt anyone.
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I have made a note of your web address. Thanks!
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Jesus Christ, not hadley, maybe saten or worse. You will hopefully rot in hell for your negetive comments, this includes all you wishing harm to him or his family. I’m guessing you either were on the wrong side of the law or had a family member who had the pleasure of seeing them sent to jail because they broke the law. Don’t hate the player, hate the game, the game you lost.
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Very well put, Rescue. For all of you knuckleheads slamming the guy and saying “what goes around comes around”, what exactly did he do to you? And don’t respond that he “set you up” or “put your Daddy in jail,” what specifically did he do that was improper?
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Royalflush, You’d have to go back some 23 years to see what he did to my family. Prior to his mentally handicapped son even being born.
He, and a few of his ‘drinking buddies’ in the Elyria politico decided that one of their younger buddies deserved a job that my father worked tirelessly to attain. So, they decided to begin a grand jury investigation, into some alleged problems with the way he conducted business (all of these allegations were proven fruitless and wrong) but by the time this very newspaper got their share of muckraking done my father’s name was smeared so terribly that his only choice was to resign.
Once he resigned from his position, all the speculation ended, the investigation ceased, and amazingly the young buddy got my father’s job.
Amazing man, that Jon Rosenbaum, amazingly bad.
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Name the young buddy of Rosenbaum.
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redquestron –
Could you be any more vague? “Yea, decades ago some people did some bad things to some people and hurt some people and it was all lies because they are bad people.”
So basically, your Dad lost a job in the 80s and know you’re happy that the man you blame for this is paralyzed.
It sounds like you wasted the last 23 years of your life. I actually pity you.
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Folks, blaming all your problems on one man, sounds like a bunch of LOSERs? What a shallow bunch of folks, he hurt my dad,,,etc My Mom…etc life is the same…. lost a job…etc. and you wish his family harm, or him? So what ever happens to his family is double on your family.
As far as family’s go, don’t have any care for the Rosenbaum’s family, and don’t have any care for your family.
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First of all, everyone who seems to be reeling with pleasure over this occurance is a truly heinous excuse for a human being. Whether or not you agree with a person’s politics, wishing this kind of traumatic experience on a family is inexcusable.
Secondly, there have been a lot of things said about Aaron that are simply very cruel. Yes, he had a brain tumor as a child, but he is not “mentally challenged”, nor does he suffer from “behavior problems”. If you don’t know Aaron, please keep your speculations of malicious intent to yourself. He is an incredibly kind and caring person who would never purposefully harm the man he considers to be his best friend.
And finally, to you “JesusChrist”, shooting accidents happen. They happen to both experienced and inexperienced shooters. It’s a dangerous sport. And as for the “evidence” on the 911 recording? I’m sure that had you just been shot in the back, even accidentally by someone you love, you’d never say anything you didn’t mean, right?
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It sounds like your dad should have stood his ground, redquestron, if he was innocent of the things acused of. He should have fought for his job unless those things were true and he just wanted to save your family from the same ridicule you are spewing here.
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