CLEVELAND, Ohio — A former Cuyahoga County Jail officer on Thursday fatally shot his girlfriend, a current corrections officer, then took his own life during an eight-hour SWAT standoff, according to officials and law enforcement sources.
Jail officer Valerie Gudger, 37, died in the shooting, officials said. She was hired as an officer at the downtown jail in 2017.
Brandon Smith, 41, shot Gudger and then himself during the standoff, according to four law enforcement sources.
Smith worked as a corrections officer at the jail from 2003 until he quit in 2019 amid accusations of misconduct. His father is a Cleveland police officer, according to three law enforcement sources.
The shooting happened about 2:30 p.m. Thursday on East 124th Street near Brackland Avenue. Police said Smith and Gudger were inside a car when Smith shot her. He drove to a nearby field, dragged her from the car and shot her again, according to police. Gudger was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds to her chest, police said.
Smith, who was armed, locked himself in his nearby home on Eddy Road near Gray Avenue, a few blocks from the shooting, police said. SWAT teams from the Cleveland police department and Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department surrounded the home.
SWAT officers eventually went in the home about 10:30 p.m. and found Smith dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, police said. Police found three guns inside the home.
Grief counselors gathered at the jail, where Gudger was scheduled to work her shift at 6 p.m., before the standoff ended.
Cuyahoga County Sheriff Christopher Viland said in a statement that Gudger “served with distinction” during her time at the jail and that she was “viciously slain.”
“This is a tragedy that shouldn’t be suffered by any family,” Viland’s statement said. “The loss of a second corrections officer to violent crime in the past several months will be difficult for all, including the many co-workers and friends who provide such admirable service to the citizens of this county every day.”
Gudger is the second corrections officer to be killed in a six-month span. In March, officer Timoteo Cruz was killed during a shootout outside a Parma bar where he worked as a security guard. A bar patron was also killed and two men were arrested, including one who was wounded by Cruz’s gunfire.
Smith’s tenure as a corrections officer included a stint on the jail’s Special Response Team, known as the Men in Black for their paramilitary gear, during a time the unit was accused of beating inmates, depriving them of healthcare and threatening inmates.
Smith in November 2018 was accused of threatening an inmate who gave an interview to federal agents and U.S. Marshals Service investigators during an investigation into the troubled jail. The inmate, who endured several attacks by officers in prior weeks, gave his interview while Smith stood outside listening, according to a lawsuit.
Smith later called him a “snitch” several times over the next few days and shoved the inmate into a wall, according to county records and the lawsuit. County officials disciplined Smith with a written reprimand. The county settled the lawsuit with the inmate for $140,000.
Another inmate, De’Von Bean, accused Smith of punching him in the head and knocking him unconscious during a May 6, 2018 incident in the jail. Another officer pepper-sprayed Bean in the face, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court. The lawsuit is pending.
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