Trotwood man indicted in deadly shooting at DMAX plant in Moraine

A large police force responded to the DMAX plant in Moraine Thursday night, May 18, 2023, after a report of an active shooter. Police found one worker shot dead inside and another injured by gunfire. The shooting suspect was found critically injured outside with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, police said. JEREMY P. KELLEY/STAFF

Credit: Jeremy P. Kelley

Credit: Jeremy P. Kelley

A large police force responded to the DMAX plant in Moraine Thursday night, May 18, 2023, after a report of an active shooter. Police found one worker shot dead inside and another injured by gunfire. The shooting suspect was found critically injured outside with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, police said. JEREMY P. KELLEY/STAFF

A man is facing murder and felonious assault charges in a shooting at the DMAX plant in Moraine that killed a man and injured another man earlier this year.

A grand jury indicted Frederick A. Cox, 30, of Trotwood, on three counts of murder and four counts of felonious assault, according to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court records. He is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.

Around 9 p.m. on May 18, multiple law enforcement agencies responded to a report of an active shooter at the DMAX facility at 3100 Dryden Road.

Frederick Cox

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

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Credit: Montgomery County Jail

When officers arrived, they found Cox outside with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Moraine police Sgt. Andrew Parish said previously. Cox was initially in critical but stable condition. He was released from a medical facility on July 26 and is being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1 million bond, according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.

Crews also found two victims inside the facility.

Jeffrey James Allen III, 28, of Dayton was pronounced dead at the scene. He had been shot at least a dozen times, according to the prosecutor’s office.

The second victim, Kelly Suber Jr., had non-life-threatening injuries. He told the Dayton Daily News he was shot in the foot while he was jumping over an assembly line and trying to escape.

The shooting stemmed from a feud involving a woman, according to police. Both men and the woman worked at DMAX.

“We’ve been able to confirm that both the suspect and Mr. Allen were apparently involved in a domestic related feud over a female who was also an employee of the facility,” Parish said in a press conference the day after the shooting. “During the altercation between the two males last night, the suspect produced a semi-automatic handgun and shot and killed Mr. Allen.”

Allen and Cox had dated the woman, according to Kettering Municipal Court records. A witness who worked in human relations for DMAX reportedly had tried to diffuse an ongoing argument between the men.

Suber was not part of the feud.

A lawyer representing Suber and Allen’s family claimed DMAX had non-existent security. Michael Wright, an attorney for Wright & Schulte LLC, said in May DMAX is responsible for having security measures that protect workers.

Wright said he was investigating the security policies at the plant, but it wasn’t clear if a lawsuit would be filed.

Staff writers Jen Balduf and Eric Schwartzberg contributed to this report.

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