By James Hannah
The Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The parents of a fugitive suspected of killing a California police officer in a crusade against police brutality disavowed his alleged crime Wednesday.

"We love our son but absolutely denounce his alleged actions," Karen and Stan Mickel of Springfield said in a brief statement. "Our hearts are breaking for the family and friends of Officer Mobilio."

The couple said their son Andrew Mickel apparently had been using the name Andrew McCrae. Stan Mickel said his son visited the family in March and there was no indication that anything was wrong.

Mr. McCrae, 23, walked out of a hotel room Tuesday in Concord, N.H., after several hours of negotiations. He is charged with killing officer David Mobilio in Red Bluff, Calif., on Nov. 19.

Shortly before he gave up, authorities granted Mr. McCrae's request to talk to a Concord Monitor reporter who was in the lobby. Reporter Sarah Vos said the first thing Mr. McCrae told her in a phone conversation was, "I killed a police officer in Red Bluff, California, in an effort to draw attention to police brutality."

Mr. McCrae was ordered held without bail after saying nothing during his arraignment by video hookup from the Merrimack County Jail.

Stan Mickel said news reports that his son was a drifter were not true. He said his son was a student at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., and had attended Springfield North High School.

Police indicated they believe Mr. McCrae also confessed to the murder on a San Francisco news Web site.

In one of two letters posted on the site Monday by a man identifying himself as Mr. McCrae, the writer claims he shot and killed the officer to protest "police-state tactics" and corporate irresponsibility.

The writer claimed he is immune from prosecution because he incorporated himself as a protest against corporations who "murder thousands of people each year."

Officer Mobilio, 31, was shot three times, once at close range in the back of the head, as he refueled his cruiser. He was the first officer killed in the line of duty in Red Bluff, a city of 13,500 near Sacramento. Some 2,500 people, including Gov. Gray Davis, attended a memorial service Tuesday.

Concord City Prosecutor Scott Murray called it "an ambush, an execution of a police officer ... to effectuate (McCrae's) political agenda."

Springfield police records show Mrs. Mickel reported her son, then 18, missing on Oct. 28, 1997, and that he had left a note that morning saying he was running away. She said her son had refused to take his medication for depression.

The next night Mrs. Mickel called police back to say her son had been found in Yellow Springs, about 15 miles south of their home.

Little is known of Mr. McCrae's recent past. An Andrew H. Mickel served in the U.S. Army from May 1998 until August 2001, based primarily at Fort Campbell, Ky., according to military records.

In his Internet postings, Mr. McCrae said he had graduated from Army ranger, airborne and jungle warfare schools.

Ben Poston, who graduated high school with Mr. McCrae in 1998, told the Springfield News-Sun they were close friends. "It's senseless and it's hard to believe," Mr. Poston said. "It's just like something got into him somewhere along the line and a switch was flipped and something went wrong."