CLEVELAND (WJW) — A man wanted on multiple violent felony warrants was shot in an exchange of gunfire with police.
The incident happened early Sunday evening.
Four officers with the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority were attempting to serve a warrant at the complex at East 40th and Central Avenue when, they said, the suspect shot at them.
Sgt. Freddie Diaz, the public information officer for Cleveland Police, said “When they went into the home gunfire was exchanged.” Diaz added, “During that exchange, one of the CMHA officers was struck by gunfire.”
The officer, who has not been named, was shot in the hand.
The 19-year-old suspect was seriously injured in the return of gunfire from police.
The incident happened at 5:22 p.m., in broad daylight, not far from a playground.
Diaz sympathizes with tenants who might have been traumatized.
“It is a concern for citizens when they have a situation like this occur, but officers were here to enforce laws and arrest an individual that was wanted for a felony warrant,” said Diaz.
Cleveland Councilman Richard Starr, who represents that ward, told Fox 8 that CMHA investigators informed him, that when they knocked, other people in the apartment came out, and when the suspect didn’t, they went in after him.
He fired at them, they fired back.
Starr said, “This is a cry out for help if you ask me. For you to be cornered with nowhere to go and the only thing you think about doing shooting your way out of the police.”
The councilman blamed this latest act of violence on lack of resources in the community, saying, “This is why I keep harping on the education and making sure our kids are getting educated in our neighborhood, and also coming up with a plan to just heal our neighborhood.”
Starr went on to say, “We can’t keep having all this gun violence go on. We can’t keep having these incidents take place in our neighborhood and we just continue to do the same thing expecting different results, which is a form of insanity.”
At last update, the officer was stable.
The 19-year-old suspect was seriously injured but in stable condition.
