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Two police officers shot at Willoughby Hills car dealership

Posted at 3:16 PM, Sep 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-29 16:58:02-04

Two Willoughby Hills police officers were shot at a car dealership Thursday afternoon.

The shooting happened at Classic BMW on SOM Center Road in Willoughby Hills.

Willoughby Hills Police Chief Christopher Collins said the officers are both in stable condition at local hospitals. One was shot in the abdomen. The other was shot in the leg.

WATCH: Update from Chief Collins in the media player above.

The officers were both wearing bullet-proof vests. One officer has been with the department for 28 years. The other has been with the department for 4 years. 

The suspect, a 30-year-old man, was also shot, authorities said. He is in stable condition. 

According to officials, workers at the dealership called police around 2 p.m. because the suspect appeared to be "under the influence" of something. 

"I noticed he got up very unhappy and he was cursing under his breath and his car wasn't done on time," said Rick, who was having his car serviced at Classic BMW.

Rick watched in the waiting room as the man got up angry and disgruntled and then yelled at employees. Police say that same man shot the two officers.

According to the report, the suspect has multiple outstanding warrants and an extensive criminal history.  Dispatch radioed the information back to the officers, including that the man had a caution alert placed on him, but a short time later shots were fired, the report said.

The shooting happened in the parking lot of the dealership. 

The general manager of the Lexus dealership across the street told News 5 the suspect was "irate." Minutes later, 8 to 10 shots were fired, he said. 

Rick's SUV was caught in the crossfire.

"I called up to talk to Zach who's in the service department to see what was going on, if they were okay or not," Rick said. "Then that's when I heard that it was all closed up and my car wouldn't actually be released for a couple days because it was part of the crime scene."

Willoughby Eastlake School District administrators said South High School, Willoughby Middle School, the School of Innovation and Edison Elementary School were placed on lockdown after the shooting. 

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations is assisting in the investigation.