ALLIANCE, Ohio — Neighbors are shook after an officer-involved shooting led officers to an apartment complex on Johnson Avenue in Alliance.
Thankfully, no officers were injured. But one man is dead.
“Anytime a human being loses his life it’s sad. We regret that. We regret the situation to our officers and what they’re going to go through, and most importantly, we’re sorry for the family members,” said Alliance Police Chief Akenra X.
At this time, X didn’t release the suspect’s identity because the department is still working to notify the person’s family.
But we did learn this all started after the man reportedly pulled out a gun at Wally Armour’s car dealership around 3:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon and then left.
X said officers got a description once they arrived at the dealership and eventually found the man sitting inside his vehicle in the 1200 block of Johnson Avenue.
That’s when X said officers told the suspect to put his hands on the roof of the car. But X said he refused.
“He was given verbal commands. He was tased. None of those things brought compliance, and then he reached for a gun, so he really left the officers no choice,” said X.
Chief X said the man was shot and killed after it’s believed the suspect fired one shot from his gun – which X said police later found.
X said officers worked to clear the scene while also speaking to people like Bruce Rodkey who lives right across the street from the apartment complex.
“All I heard was pop, pop, pop, pop, pop and they were tearing the truck up,” said Rodkey.
Before the shooting happened, Rodkey said he had just got home from work. “I was just sitting there watching TV, and then when I heard that I (came) out on the porch and that’s when all heck broke lose,” said Rodkey.
Rodkey told reporters he’s been living at his home for decades and never saw anything like this happen in the neighborhood, so he’s shook.
“I’ve lived in this house for at least 40 or so years. I was born and raised a couple houses down, so I’ve lived here all my life: 73 years. Nothing like this has ever happened,” said Rodkey.
Police said the Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating, and additional information will be released as it becomes available.
