Blue Lives Lost: Remembering William Brewer (1977 - 2019)
Detective William Brewer was shot and killed after responding to a call from a suicidal man armed with a gun at an apartment complex. Brewer was a 20-year veteran of the Clermont County Sheriff's Office in Ohio and was remembered by friends as a 'great man' and a 'great officer.' His is survived by his wife and 5-year-old son.
Clermont County Sheriff Robert Leahy says months after the killing of Detective William Brewer, the letters are still showing up at his office — some from as far away as Germany.
Brewer died Feb. 2 after being shot during a 12-hour standoff at an apartment complex east of Cincinnati, Ohio. Since then, Leahy told Fox News he’s opened up hundreds of messages of support from police officers and law enforcement agencies around the world, mourning the loss of what detective Leahy describes as the type America “needs more of.”
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“Now that we are approaching four months… it doesn’t stop,” Leahy said at the end of May. “I receive letters, well-wishes and things from the community they would send. Meals, food.”
Brewer is the second officer in the history of the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office to be killed in the line of duty and the first in more than 40 years. Prosecutors are now seeking the death penalty for his alleged shooter – someone whom Leahy says was “admittedly suicidal” and who Brewer was trying to help.
Detective William Lee Brewer was the "type of officer that the country needs more of," the Clermont County Sheriff says. (Clermont County Sheriff's Office)
OFFICERS KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY IN 2019
“From the very first day, Bill was the type of officer that the country needs more of, not less,” Leahy said. “A very family-oriented man. A humble person, easygoing.”
Prior to joining the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office, Brewer, 42, made a name for himself in the area as a star athlete at Williamsburg High School. There, he has a spot in the district’s Sports Hall of Fame.
During his time playing for the school's football team, Brewer set local and state records that are still standing today, Leahy said.
Jim Dyer, a longtime coach at the school interviewed by the Cincinnati Enquirer, described Brewer as a triple threat in football, baseball and basketball.
“All of his classmates and teammates liked him,” Dyer said.
The coach also echoed Leahy’s assessment of Brewer's humility, noting that “he did not want all the accolades" for himself.
“I was there when he got the hall of fame award,” Dyer said. “He was all embarrassed. Deep down he knew he deserved it.”
Brewer, a 20-year veteran of the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office, started out working in the local jail before becoming a road patrol deputy in 2004. He moved up to its special response team in 2015 – the year of one of his bravest moments as an officer, Leahy says.
Following a robbery at a local Walmart, Brewer, Leahy recalls, tracked down a suspect a few miles away and got into a tussle with him along the side of the road before he was struck by a vehicle. He sustained injuries from that incident and received a Merit/Bravery award from the Clermont Chamber of Commerce Foundation for his heroics.
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Brewer is survived by his wife, son, brother, parents-in-law and nieces and nephews, his obituary says.
Following his death in early February, Leahy said his absence would “forever change the atmosphere of the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office.”
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