North Olmsted police officer, man wounded after gunfire exchange - WKYC.com

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North Olmsted police say that the officer has since been released from the hospital.

NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio — A North Olmsted police officer and a man were both injured after an exchange of gunfire on Saturday morning.

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Police say that at around 1:39 a.m., a female called police stating that a male approached her and said someone was trying to kill his uncle. The female told police that the male had blood on him and directed the officers to 28456 Alden Drive.

Upon arriving at the scene, officers found a male subject with a gun and shots were exchanged between several officers and the subject. Police say that the North Olmsted police officer was struck twice and was treated for non-life-threatening injuries The officer, who has been employed with North Olmsted since Aug. 17, 2021, has since been released from St. John Westshore Hospital.

The 27-year-old man involved sustained multiple gunshot wounds and his condition is unknown at this time.

Police officials also say that the residence was discovered fully engulfed in flames and that several fire departments responded for mutual aid. Additionally, the man who approached the initial female caller was later located and also transported to the hospital with unknown injuries.

"They were shooting in the backyard in the side of my house, the officers and the suspect they were back and forth," neighbor Rita said.

That's how neighbor Rita woke up, and she'll never forget what she saw on her front lawn as she was looking for the source of the sound, an officer down.

"He was on my lawn on the ground and there was two other people with him, and I called 911," Rita said.

Levi lives right next door to the house that caught fire.

"I started hearing some crackling and glass breaking so I'm like 'oh my god, I'm going to look out the window right now' and I see this entire section, I see fire coming out, they had sliding glass doors, and they had fire coming up the sliding glass doors and I'm like 'oh my gosh my neighbor's house is on fire,'" Levi said.

North Olmsted Mayor Nicole Dailey Jones released the following statement regarding the incident:

"On behalf of the residents of North Olmsted, I want to thank all of our first responders for their bravery and heroism in responding to the events early this morning on Alden Drive. Our community is deeply saddened by what transpired this morning. I am grateful to hear that the officer involved in the shooting suffered non-life-threatening injuries and is back home with his family at this time. I also want to thank all of our surrounding communities - -Westlake, Bay Village, Fairview Park, North Ridgeville and Olmsted Township -- along with all state agencies who responded.

Unfortunately, we have seen across our region, state and country these types of crimes can happen anywhere. Speaking with officers on the scene this morning, I received confirmation this was an isolated incident and the fire was controlled. We are issuing an emergency order to demolish the house once the crime scene is cleared and all evidence has been collected.

The investigation is ongoing at this time, and our City will continue to assist the State Fire Marshall’s Office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which are leading the investigation"

The State Fire Marshall and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation responded to the scene for investigation.