Ohio man loses father to mass shooting, home to tornado
Updated: 7:57 PM PST Dec 19, 2019
Karin Johnson
A GUN MAN SPRAYING BULLETS THROUGH THE OREGON DISTRICT. AT THAT TIME, I DID NOT THINK IT WAS REAL. KARIN: IT'S THE LAST THING DION GREEN WOULD EVER EXPECT TO HAVE TO LIVE THROUGH. >> MY DAD GOT SHOT TIME. I WAS THERE WITH HIM THE WHOLE TIME. I WAS THERE WITH HIM THE WHOLE TIME HE'S JUST LOOKING AT ME AND I'M LAYING ON HIS CHEST HOLDING HI LIKE I LOVE YOU. KARIN: HIS DAD, DERRICK FUDGE WAS ONE OF NINE PEOPLE KILLED IN DAYTON'S MASS SHOOTING. >> IT'S LIKE, WHY AM I INVOLVED IN THIS AGAIN? KARIN: DION AND HIS FAMILY HAD JUST SURVIVED A TORNADO THAT TORE THROUGH HIS NEIGHBORHOOD LESS THAN THREE MONTHS EARLIER. BUT -- >> WHEN THE STORM FIRST BLEW OVER, IT SOUNDED LIKE AN AIRPLANE HIT THE WHOLE HOUSE. KARIN: IMAGES FROM THAT MORNING STILL FLASH THROUGH DION'S MIND >> YOU JUST KEEP SEEING LIGHTNING FLASH, LIGHTNING FLAS LIKE THE FOURTH OF JULY. KARIN: HE AND HIS FAMILY TOOK COVER IN THEIR BASEMENT. >> THE WIND THE RAIN, WHATEVER'S TWIRLING IN THE TORNADO, JUST AL -- ALL INSIDE THE HOUSE. KARIN: CAR TOTALED, ROOF GONE AND THIER NORTHRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS DESTROYED. EVERY DAY DION WORKED TO REBUILD. >> I STAYED HERE DAY IN AND DAY OUT. NO LIGHTS, NO ELECTRICTY, CO WATER, SHOWERS. I WAS BUSY. I HAD TO GET MY KINGDOM BACK. KARIN: BY EARLY AUGUST, HE WAS SLOWLY PIECING HIS HOME AND LIFE BACK TOGETHER AND DECIDED TO HAVE A FAMILY NIGHT OUT IN DAYTON'S OREGON DISTRICT. HIS DAD JOINED THE PARTY THIS SATURDAY NIGHT. >> HE'S BUYING ALL THE DRINKS. WE WERE JUST HAVING FUN. DANCING. HE'S JUST ENJOYING HIS NIGH THINKING HE'S YOUNG. IT WAS JUST A FAMILY AFFAIR. EVERYBODY WAS GOING TO HAVE FUN THAT NIGHT AND WAKE UP THAT MORNING LIKE, EITHER I GOT A HEADACHE OR MAN WE HAD FUN BUT THE NEXT DAY DID NOT GET TOGETHER LIKE THAT, AS PLANNED. KARIN: AS THEY LEFT NEWCOMBS, A MAN ARMED WITH A RIFLE OPENED FIRE. >> WHEN HE CROSSED THROUGH US AND GOT DOWN THE STREET THAT'S WHEN THE PANIC STARTED TO EVOLVE AND IT WAS REAL. KARIN: DION SAYS IT TOOK HIM A MINUTE BEFORE HE REALIZED HIS DAD, WHO HE WAS JUST SHARING LAUGHS WITH, HAD BEEN SHOT. >> HE'S JUST LOOKING AT ME LIKE HE WANTED TO SAY SOME WORDS TO ME BUT HE DIDN'T GET TO SAY THEM , SO I SAID THEM FOR HIM. I JUST KEPT TELLING HIM, I LOVE HIM, I LOVE YOU, GET UP. I JUST GRABBED ON TIGHT TO HIM, LET HIM KNOW LIKE, WHEN YOU LEAVE THIS EARTH, I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT I WAS HOLDING YOU AND LETTING YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU THE WHOLE TIME. KARIN: DERRICK FUDGE DIE IN HIS SON'S ARMS THAT NIGHT. THIS TIME AROUND DION LOST SOMETHING, SOMEONE, WHO COULDN'T BE REPLACED. DION IS THE FIRST TO ADMIT GRIEF AFFECTS HIS ENTIRE BODY AND MIND. ESPECIALLY WITH CHRISTMAS APPROACHING, LIFE'S BEEN A STRUGGLE. BUT HE'S RESILIENT. COMING UP AT 6:00, I WILL SHOW YOU HOW, THROUGH CONNECTIONS HE'S MADE, VOLUNTEER WORK IN HONOR OF HIS DAD AND EVEN A LETTER TO THE SHOOTER'S FAMILY, HE HAS BEEN ABLE TO HONOR HIS FATHER AND FOCUS ON SELF CAR
They live 1,200 miles apart, yet the emotions shared between Dion Green, of Dayton, and Sandy Phillips, of San Antonio, as they talk on the phone are raw and personal."I had a breakdown last Friday. I just got angry, mad," Green said to Phillips in a recent phone call.Phillips happened to call Green on the December morning when WLWT-TV went to Green's home to talk to him about the past year. With permission from both of them, the news station listened in on the conversation.Green talked about the sadness he had in his year.Phillips told him, "Grief takes its toll, you know. And if you're not dealing with it then, it deals with you."Tragedy connects the two. Phillips' daughter, Jessica Redfield Ghawi, was killed in a mass shooting in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater in 2012. Green's father, Derrick Fudge, died in his arms this summer in Dayton's Oregon district.Fudge was one of nine killed that night."My dad got shot four times," Green said. "At that time, I just did not think it was very real ... I was there with him the whole time. He's just looking at me, and I'm laying on his chest, holding him, like, 'I love you.'"His father's death was Green's second great loss of 2019.Less than three months earlier, Green and his family survived a tornado that tore through his Northridge neighborhood."When the storm first blew over, it sounded like an airplane hit the whole house," Green said on the morning after the tornado hit. "I was like, 'Everything's gone, everything."Green and his family took cover in their basement, but images from that day still flash through his mind."You just keep seeing lightning flash, lightning flash, like Fourth of July," Green said.His cars were totaled. His roof was gone, and the neighborhood was destroyed.Every day, Green worked to rebuild."I stayed here day in and day out (with) no lights, no electricity, cold water, or showers," Green said. "I was busy. I had to get my kingdom back."By early August, he was slowly piecing his home and life back together and decided to have a family night out in Dayton's Oregon District. It's a place he's been dozens of times before.His father joined the party that Saturday night."He's buying all the drinks. We were just having fun dancing. He's just enjoying his night, thinking he's young," Green said. "It was just a family affair. Everybody was going to have fun that night and wake up that morning, like, either, 'I got a headache' or 'Man, we had fun,' but the next day didn't get to go like that, as planned."As they left Newcom's Tavern, a man armed with a rifle opened fire."When he crossed through us and got down the street, that's when the panic started to evolve, and it was real," Green said.Green said it took him a minute before he realized that his dad --- whom he had just been sharing laughs with --- had been shot."He's just looking at me like he wanted to say some words to me, but he didn't get to say them, so I said them for him -- I just kept telling him --- I love him. 'I love you, get up,'" Green said. "I just grabbed on tight to him, let him know, like, 'When you leave this earth, I want you to know that I was holding you and letting you know I love you the whole time.'"This time around, Green knew he had lost something --- someone --- who couldn't be replaced."He was my father, and he loved his family," Green said.Green continues to work through his anger and sadness but has found strength in connections --- his therapist; Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who has sent him handwritten notes; and others around the country, like Phillips, who have also lost loved ones in mass shootings.Getting back to that phone call, Phillips said to Green, "You told me that you have reached out to the shooter's family.""Yes, ma'am," Green said.Green said he wanted to connect with the family, especially the mother, of the man who killed his father."Just to let her know that I hold no anger toward her and that this is a hard time for her because it's a hard time for me," Green said. "In order to heal, you have to forgive. You can't walk around with all that anger because you're going to stay stagnant and you're never going to continue to grow."Green said he hopes that sharing his story helps him heal. He's also been connecting with his community. He recently volunteered and rang the bell for the Salvation Army, just like his dad used to do."What better way to be up here ringing the bell in his memory?" Green said. "I want to bring in the next year with nothing but love and peace."
NORTHRIDGE, Ohio —
They live 1,200 miles apart, yet the emotions shared between Dion Green, of Dayton, and Sandy Phillips, of San Antonio, as they talk on the phone are raw and personal.
"I had a breakdown last Friday. I just got angry, mad," Green said to Phillips in a recent phone call.
Phillips happened to call Green on the December morning when WLWT-TV went to Green's home to talk to him about the past year. With permission from both of them, the news station listened in on the conversation.
Green talked about the sadness he had in his year.
Phillips told him, "Grief takes its toll, you know. And if you're not dealing with it then, it deals with you."
Tragedy connects the two. Phillips' daughter, Jessica Redfield Ghawi, was killed in a mass shooting in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater in 2012. Green's father, Derrick Fudge, died in his arms this summer in Dayton's Oregon district.
Fudge was one of nine killed that night.
"My dad got shot four times," Green said. "At that time, I just did not think it was very real ... I was there with him the whole time. He's just looking at me, and I'm laying on his chest, holding him, like, 'I love you.'"
His father's death was Green's second great loss of 2019.
Less than three months earlier, Green and his family survived a tornado that tore through his Northridge neighborhood.
"When the storm first blew over, it sounded like an airplane hit the whole house," Green said on the morning after the tornado hit. "I was like, 'Everything's gone, everything."
Green and his family took cover in their basement, but images from that day still flash through his mind.
"You just keep seeing lightning flash, lightning flash, like Fourth of July," Green said.
His cars were totaled. His roof was gone, and the neighborhood was destroyed.
Every day, Green worked to rebuild.
"I stayed here day in and day out (with) no lights, no electricity, cold water, or showers," Green said. "I was busy. I had to get my kingdom back."
By early August, he was slowly piecing his home and life back together and decided to have a family night out in Dayton's Oregon District. It's a place he's been dozens of times before.
His father joined the party that Saturday night.
"He's buying all the drinks. We were just having fun dancing. He's just enjoying his night, thinking he's young," Green said. "It was just a family affair. Everybody was going to have fun that night and wake up that morning, like, either, 'I got a headache' or 'Man, we had fun,' but the next day didn't get to go like that, as planned."
As they left Newcom's Tavern, a man armed with a rifle opened fire.
"When he crossed through us and got down the street, that's when the panic started to evolve, and it was real," Green said.
Green said it took him a minute before he realized that his dad --- whom he had just been sharing laughs with --- had been shot.
"He's just looking at me like he wanted to say some words to me, but he didn't get to say them, so I said them for him -- I just kept telling him --- I love him. 'I love you, get up,'" Green said. "I just grabbed on tight to him, let him know, like, 'When you leave this earth, I want you to know that I was holding you and letting you know I love you the whole time.'"
This time around, Green knew he had lost something --- someone --- who couldn't be replaced.
"He was my father, and he loved his family," Green said.
Green continues to work through his anger and sadness but has found strength in connections --- his therapist; Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who has sent him handwritten notes; and others around the country, like Phillips, who have also lost loved ones in mass shootings.
Getting back to that phone call, Phillips said to Green, "You told me that you have reached out to the shooter's family."
"Yes, ma'am," Green said.
Green said he wanted to connect with the family, especially the mother, of the man who killed his father.
"Just to let her know that I hold no anger toward her and that this is a hard time for her because it's a hard time for me," Green said. "In order to heal, you have to forgive. You can't walk around with all that anger because you're going to stay stagnant and you're never going to continue to grow."
Green said he hopes that sharing his story helps him heal. He's also been connecting with his community. He recently volunteered and rang the bell for the Salvation Army, just like his dad used to do.
"What better way to be up here ringing the bell in his memory?" Green said. "I want to bring in the next year with nothing but love and peace."