An Ohio police officer investigating a call of a disturbance at a home was fatally shot Saturday night in what authorities described as an “ambush” by an alleged gunman who remained at large Sunday.
The suspect, identified by police as 24-year-old Deshawn Anthony Vaughn, is said to be “armed and extremely” dangerous, and police are asking anyone who spots him to call the police immediately, authorities said.
The shooting unfolded just before 10 p.m. local time in a residential area of Euclid, Ohio, about 15 miles northeast of Cleveland, Capt. Mitchell Houser, a spokesperson for the Euclid Police Department, said in a statement.
Police in Euclid, Ohio, investigate a fatal shooting of a police officer who authorities said was “ambushed” while answering a call on May 11, 2024.
WEWS
Houser said officers were called to a residence to investigate a disturbance.
“While police were investigating, a gunman ambushed an officer, striking him with gunfire,” Houser said.
The mortally wounded officer was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Houser said. The officer’s name was not immediately released by police.
The Euclid, Ohio, Police Department announced that they are searching for Deshawn Anthony Vaughn, 24, as a suspect in the fatal shooting of the officer on May 11, 2024.
Euclid Police Department
The slain officer was identified as Jacob Derbin, according to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
“The promise to protect is signed with the blood of our officers. The killer who ambushed Officer Derbin will be found and will receive the full measure of justice,” Yost said in a statement Sunday. “It is a cruel irony that a mother lost her son on Mother’s Day and that this murder happened just as we prepared to solemnize our fallen during Police Memorial Week. My heart burns with anger at the injustice, for the family of this young officer and the Euclid Police Department.”
A massive search for Vaughn was going on Sunday involving multiple law enforcement agencies.
Vaughn may be driving a white 2017 Volkswagen Passat with a temporary license plate mounted in the rear window, police said.
A motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
The shooting came just hours after three Atlanta police officers were shot while responding to a call Saturday evening, officials said. The officers were shot after being called to investigate a report of a man with a gun, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said during a news conference.
The unidentified officers encountered the suspect, who was allegedly armed with a handgun and knife when shots rang out, Schierbaum said.
On April 29, four members of a U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force were killed and four others were wounded in a shootout that erupted in Charlotte, North Carolina, as they attempted to serve active felony warrants on a suspect identified as 39-year-old Terry Clark Hughes Jr., who was killed in the gun battle, according to police.
At least 58 law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty so far this year, including 22 who died as a result of gunfire, according to the nonprofit Officer Down Memorial Page.
In 2023, 136 federal, state and local law enforcement officers died in the line of duty compared to 224 officers in 2022, a decrease of almost 40%.
