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On Sunday, July 5, a gun battle in a northern Ohio area left four people dead, including a police officer, law enforcement officials said.
Two other law enforcement officers and a police K-9 were also injured in the incident in the Wayne County city of Littman, about 20 miles southwest of Akron.
Wayne County Sheriff Thomas Ballinger said at a news conference about the shooting that officers responded to a 911 call reporting shots fired around 9:30 p.m.
Ballinger told reporters that officers arrived at the scene and “immediately began firing.”
“At this time, one officer has been killed in the line of duty and two others have been injured,” the sheriff’s office told reporters Sunday night, adding that a Wayne County Sheriff’s Office K-9 was also injured in the melee.
The suspect and two other victims also died in the shooting, Ballinger said.
As of Monday, July 6, law enforcement had not released the names of those killed, and a motive for the shooting was not immediately known.
Police cruiser left riddled with bullets
According to the Canton Repository, part of the USA TODAY Network, officers from multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the scene near Cheyenne Drive.
Several law enforcement vehicles appeared to have sustained bullet damage, including cruisers from the Sheriff’s Office, Littman Police Department, Worcester Police Department and Smithville Police Department, local television station News 5 Cleveland reported.
USA TODAY has reached out to the Littman Police Department and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which is leading the investigation.
Multiple local and state officials expressed condolences to the slain police officer and other victims.
“Our hearts go out to everyone in the Littman community this morning as we mourn the loss of the Littman police officer who died responding to a 911 call last night,” Akron Mayor Shamas Malik said in a post on X. “Our thoughts are with the victim’s loved ones, the Littman Police Department, and the entire Wayne County community as we respond to this tragedy.”
“Our prayers go out to our brothers and sisters in Wayne County,” the Ohio Knights Fraternal Order of Police wrote in a Facebook post.
Contributed by The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Natalie Neisa Alland is a senior reporter at USA TODAY. Contact her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her at X @nataliealund.
