NORTH CANTON, Ohio — A suspect is in custody after law enforcement agents surrounded a North Canton apartment building where a woman was shot and police were fired on while rescuing her.
North Canton Police Major Matthew Buzzard held a news conference early Thursday afternoon to discuss what happened. Watch the full news conference below:
The suspect, later identified as 38-year-old Brian Keith Francisco II, is charged with three counts of felonious assault, two counts of improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation and one count of inducing panic. All six charges are felonies.
Buzzard his department received a call around 8:50 a.m. at Versailles Gardens Apartments, near Applegrove and Main streets, for a woman who was injured.
Police say the shots were fired from a first-floor apartment through an outdoor corridor and into the wall of another apartment, where the victim was struck.
Within 10 minutes, police entered the apartment and found a female gunshot victim.
Those officers had eight or nine volleys— possible as many as 50 shots— fired at them from outside the apartment, said Buzzard.
The rescue crews inside the apartment— three officers and a paramedic—worked together to get woman out of the apartment through a window. She was taken to Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital and underwent surgery. Her condition is unknown.
According to Buzzard, some of responding officers were former SWAT team members. Buzzard said he heard the bullet over the radio flying by his officers.
"The fact that over the radio I could hear gunshots whizzing by the radios and none of my guys were hit, and to my knowledge at this time, no other neighboring residents were struck, miracle is the exact right word for it," Buzzard said. "By the grace of God, the two responding officers were trained for this kind of situation."
According to North Canton Police, the suspect "fired blindly through the wall of a neighboring apartment, across an outdoor corridor, and into the victim's residence." Police said the man was a paraplegic and in a wheelchair.
A SWAT team was activated shortly after the arrival of federal partners, such as the FBI and U.S. Marshals.
No officers were injured.
Police said they found an AR-style rifle, a handgun and a large amount of ammunition in the suspect's apartment.
Residents were asked to shelter in place.
A nearby neighbor described it as a scary situation.
"It's frightening. You never know what's gonna happen. It's quite astonishing when you hear about it, especially the random nature you hear of it. That's what makes it most as astonishing," the neighbor, Clinton Hinkle, said.
Walsh University issued a shelter-in-place as a precaution, but it has since been lifted.
Effective 10 am we are grateful to report Campus Police has given the ALL CLEAR to return to normal campus operations. Please refer to your email for more details.
— Walsh University (@WalshUniversity) October 9, 2025
North Canton Schools went on a soft lockdown.
