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(Headline USA) An Ohio police officer was shot and killed after being ambushed while answering a disturbance call over the weekend, and a suspect was being sought, authorities said Sunday.
Police in the Cleveland suburb of Euclid said officers were dispatched just before 10 p.m. Saturday to a home after a reported disturbance.
“While police were investigating, a gunman ambushed an officer, striking him with gunfire,” police said. The officer was taken to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries, police said. Multiple law enforcement agencies were involved in a search for the person responsible, authorities said. WKYC-TV reported that residents who live on the street reported hearing about a dozen gunshots.
Ohio’s attorney general, Dave Yost, identified the slain officer as Jacob Derbin and said he was in his first year with the department.
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Yost vowed that the person responsible “will be found and will receive the full measure of justice.” Yost’s office posted photos online of the 24-year-old suspect and the vehicle being sought.
“It is a cruel irony that a mother lost her son on Mother’s Day, and that this murder happened just as we prepare to solemnize our fallen during Police Memorial Week,” Yost said in a statement. “My heart burns with anger at this injustice, for the family of this young officer and the Euclid Police Department.”
Euclid police asked in a statement early Sunday that people “keep the fallen officer, his family, loved ones, and our agency in your thoughts and prayers.”
“He was an amazing human being. Just a great heart. Had an incredible smile. The world’s a better place with him in it,” said Euclid Police Chief Scott Meyer, WJW-TV reported.
Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail said in a statement Sunday that “we find ourselves grappling with a profound sense of sorrow and disbelief.” The mayor called on the community “to come together in solidarity and support, not only to honor a hero who selflessly served and protected us but also to offer strength to one another in this time of grief.”
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
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