CLEVLAND, Ohio – A Cleveland police officer and a stranger died Thursday night after a shooting and car crash on the city’s West Side, officials said.
The shooting happened at 10pm on West 65th Street near Store Avenue in the city’s Stockyards neighborhood. In the ongoing investigation, Cleveland Police released limited information. Cleveland Police spokesman Sergeant. Jennifer Ciasia said no arrests have been made and investigators are still searching for the shooter or shooters.
Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams, along with Mayor Frank Jackson, made a brief statement to reporters gathered at MetroHealth. He did not identify the officer he described as “excellent” and a 25-year-old senior in the city’s police force.
“Cleveland lost one of its best in line of duty tonight,” Williams said. “All those police officers were doing – trying to save this city, and he gave his life.”
Jeff Folmer, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, confirmed the officer’s death. Another man, who was not a police officer but was in the officer’s car, also died in the shooting, he said. He has not been identified.
Folmer said the officer’s car crashed after the shooting. Folmer refused to identify the officer because the officer’s family had not yet been notified.
“He was a great guy and a great officer,” Folmer said.
The ambulance took the officer to MetroHealth Medical Center, where he died.
Dozens of police officers set up an area near the Stockyard Elementary School of Star Schools and the nearby Shaker Valley Foods grocery store. Investigators moved in and out of the crime scene. Some hugged each other, while others searched homes and businesses three miles away.
Large black SUVs were driven out of the area, with police helicopters scratching the area while scanning the neighborhood.
More officers came in and out of MetroHealth’s emergency room, along with Williams and Jackson.
This is the second time in less than two months that someone has shot a Cleveland police officer. A man shot 26-year-old officer Jennifer Killanapp, while she was responding to an incident where a man threatened a woman and shot her from the floor. The man shot Killanapp in the arm and back. She survived.
Cleveland Police Chief Colvin Williams spoke to reporters outside MetroHealth after a Cleveland police officer and another man were shot dead.
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