Tuesday, August 31, 1999
Shooting rage sends man to jail
Former teacher fired at minivan
BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
As he stood sobbing before a judge Monday, Ebbie Gadd listened to friends and relatives describe him as an honest man who made a career of helping children. None of them, however, could explain why that same man would threaten a child's life.
“I didn't think I could do something like that,” Mr. Gadd said. “To me, it's totally unconscionable.”
The judge expressed the same sentiment moments later when he sentenced Mr. Gadd to eight years in prison for firing a gun into a family's minivan. He had pleaded no contest in June.
Despite Mr. Gadd's good reputation as a teacher, principal and school superintendent, Judge Thomas Nurre said nothing could excuse the violence he unleashed Feb. 3.
“I can't understand why, in the time we live in, you would commit this kind of violence with children in the car,” the judge said. “That's what we all have a hard time with.”
Prosecutors say the incident occurred when Mr. Gadd, 58, went into a drunken rage and opened fire on a minivan in Springfield Township.
The driver of the van, Pamela Devlin of Pleasant Run, was struck in the face with flying glass from a shattered window. Her husband and two children, ages 14 and 8, were not seriously hurt.
The family was returning home from a Bible study group.
Mrs. Devlin said her 14-year-old daughter still has nightmares about the incident and has sought counseling to cope with her fears. Even so, Mrs. Devlin said, her family has forgiven Mr. Gadd.
“It's just such a shame it had to come to this,” she said after the sentencing. “I do pray that this man gets the help he needs. I believe he has something to contribute.”
Several of Mr. Gadd's friends and relatives made the same point in court. His son, Michael, said his father battled alcoholism for years before his life began a “downward spiral” in 1994.
He said his father left his job, divorced and began drinking heavily. “He lost his home, his pride, his dignity,” his son said.
Others who spoke on his behalf noted that he had been a successful educator for years as a former principal at Lakota High School and a former superintendent at New Miami Schools.
But assistant county prosecutor Heather Russell told the judge that Mr. Gadd also had a dark side. She said he had a prior arrest for domestic vio lence involving his girlfriend in 1996.
“He was given a second chance then,” Ms. Russell said, noting that the charges were later dropped. “I would have thought that would have been a wake-up call.”
Prosecutors did not recommend a sentence for Mr. Gadd, who could have been jailed for as long as 37 years.
Judge Nurre urged Mr. Gadd to make the best of his time in prison, possibly by teaching fellow inmates.
“No one is saying you have to do that,” the judge said, “but I hope you do.”
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