Rob
Family Memories
I saved his life twice in his short life time and swore every time that I would always be there to protect him and care for him (unfortunately I was not with him on the stairs
the night he died).
--Sister, Mary

Rob's Life

Detective Rob Clark

We bought him the most high-tech police vest that was available and a trouble light as his graduation presents. We all thought this a very dangerous job and tried to give him some of the tools that were needed to protect him.

He received awards every year. He was a top cop in Cleveland. Soon he was assigned to the detectives to work narcotics. We would call him and tell him how proud we were of him, but to be careful. His family never stopped trying to watch over him.

He was on a routine patrol the night of July 1, 1998. He was with two rookie detectives that had worked narcotics for several months. They were just about ready to take a break and go back to the station when they saw a suspected drug transaction taking place. They chased the suspect up to a small apartment duplex and up a flight of stairs. As they were patting him down they found cocaine. The had not finished the pad down when he turned on them with a 9 millimeter gun he ad concealed. He tried to kill one of the young detectives. Rob struggled with the felon (Corey Majors) and tried to protect the officer. As he lost balance, he was being pushed down the stairway. Corey Majors shot him 4 times at close range. All shots were fatal and all lined up in a perfect row down his back except for the last one that was 2 centimeters from the center. All showed that the felon wanted only to killed a police officer. The other detective ran inside when he heard the shots and a gun battle ensued. Within a few seconds Corey Majors lay dead at the top of the steps. My brother lay dying on the landing. The officers rushed him to the nearest hospital, but the bullet wounds were so damaging there was nothing anyone could do.

The family was so crushed by the news. We tried to protect him as best we could. We always worried about him. We all had plans to grow old together. We all had to face his small children and try to explain to them. We could not even understand ourselves.

Corey Majors had a juvenile record of 150 different arrests. He jumped bail for assaulting a police officer and an old woman. He had another charge pending for robbery. He spent his time in Ohio and Florida avoiding the legal system all together. Guns were his trade along with drugs. He had no regard for authority since he never was locked up for long and he hated police since they keep picking him up for crimes.

We as a family decided to work with the Ohio Congressional staff to the U.S. Congress to strengthen certain juvenile bills (S10 and S2073). There needs to be on-line juvenile records that law enforcement and judges can access so they can make proper decisions on a juvenile offender. Those that pose a threat to society with their use of handguns need to be dealt with in a harsh manner. Also, a violent juvenile offender's record should not be expunged when he or she reach 18 if they have a history of violence with guns. There should be a period that they are watched to make sure they have conformed to society.

We will never have Rob back and it is lonely.

We do not understand why this happened, but we are trying to make some changes with the help of Congress and the Brady Campaign, Inc. I never want a family again to have to enter a dirty hallway and see bullet holes that tore through windows and sheet rock; see shoe marks of your loved one down the side of a wall; and see their blood splattered on the wall. We as a country need to assure this type of violence stops. My brother was as good a cop as our great grandfather, but unfortunately he met the same tragic end., He leaves behind a family that will never be the same and one that has a broken heart.

- His Family