TOLEDO, Ohio – A police officer who was responding to a disturbance call in a store parking lot was shot dead early Saturday morning by an intoxicated man holding a beer, police said.
Toledo officer Anthony Dia was shot in the chest just after midnight in the parking lot of a Home Depot, and was later pronounced dead in a hospital, police chief George Kral said at a press conference.
Witnesses told police that the man shot the officer with a pistol and then entered a wooded area. At some point, officers heard a single shot coming from the forest, Kral said. The gunman, only described as a 57-year-old white man, was found dead of an apparent gunshot wound to the head around 3:15 a.m.
Dia leaves behind a wife and 2-year-old boy, the chief said.
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said he was in the Toledo Hospital, where Dia was taken after the shooting.
“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 police officers, saluting and crying,” said the mayor.
Neither Kral nor Kapszukiewicz answered questions during the press conference. More information is expected to be provided at another press conference on Monday.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine released the following statement on Saturday morning:
“Fran and I were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Toledo Police Officer Anthony Dia last night in the line of duty. We extend our sympathy to his wife and 2-year-old son, to his other family members, and to his colleagues in the Toledo Police Department.
“To honor Officer Dia’s life and service, I have ordered that the flags in Lucas County and the Statehouse be lowered to half the staff starting tomorrow and through his funeral.”
