An Ohio police officer killed on July 4 in the line of duty had one last message for his loved ones: “Tell my family that I loved them.”
Jayme Dia, the wife of Toledo officer Anthony Dia, said she made the comment on her radio after being hit by gunshots outside a Home Depot store early Saturday morning.
Anthony Dia “paid the maximum sacrifice to protect his city,” says Toledo Police Chief George Kral. (Toledo Police Department)
The 26-year-old police officer was answering a call about an intoxicated man in the store’s parking lot and when “he approached the man to verify his safety,” that individual turned around and fired a single bullet with a pistol, says the police, citing witnesses.
“He bled out, more or less. They did what they could with life-saving measures, but there was nothing they could do, ”Jayme Dia told the Toledo Blade newspaper, describing how Anthony had been transferred to a local hospital by responding officers.
“The last thing he said on the radio was: ‘Tell my family that I love you,'” he added. “He lived for his family and loved, just loved, being a police officer.”
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Police say the suspect in the shooting, identified by the media as Edward Henry, fled to a forested area and was later found dead of an apparent gunshot wound to the head.
Dia joined the department in 2018 and has become its 31st officer killed in the line of duty.
Toledo Police Chief George Kral said his death is a “sad day for the city of Toledo, it is a sad day for the Toledo Police Department, and most importantly, it is a sad day for the family, friends, loved ones and other OFC officers, Anthony Dia, who paid the maximum sacrifice to protect his city. “
The city’s mayor, Wade Kapszukiewicz, was quoted by Toledo Blade as saying on Saturday that “until the day of my death, I will never forget the sight of Officer Dia being taken from the hospital on a stretcher, his body wrapped in an American flag, flanked by some 30 Toledo policemen saluting and crying. “
Dia leaves his family, a wife and two children, ages 8 and 6, the newspaper added. Barbie Rudess, a family friend, said she enjoyed teaching her children how to fight and that it was good to work with children and animals.
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And on top of that, she says, he was proud to be a police officer.
“He was so passionate about it and cared. He really cared, ”Rudess told the Toledo Blade. “Being a Muslim, he experienced some difficult times, but he loved them all. It didn’t matter what race, what thing. He just loved everyone and he loved everyone. “
