Cleveland police officer fatally shot while trying to serve a warrant

CLEVELAND (news agencies) — A Cleveland police officer was fatally shot early Thursday while trying to serve a warrant on the city’s east side.

Police Chief Dorothy Todd said the 27-year-old officer, a four-year veteran of the department, was shot at about 1 a.m. in the city’s Hough neighborhood, local news outlets reported. Police later said via the social platform X that Officer Jamieson Ritter “was shot and killed this morning while serving and protecting our community.”

De’Lawnte Hardy, 24, was charged with aggravated murder.

Ritter was part of a team dispatched to serve Hardy with a warrant for felonious assault, according to Todd. As many as 10 officers were part of that team.

When they arrived, Hardy was seen fleeing the home on a bicycle, Todd said. Officers tried to stop him, and Hardy allegedly fired a gun multiple times.

Hardy was taken into custody and taken to a hospital as a “precautionary measure,” Todd said.

He was being held at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center, and it was unclear whether he had an attorney. An officer at the justice center said information on Hardy must come from the warden’s office, which was unoccupied Thursday because of the holiday.

Police “go out there, they work hard,” Todd said. “They risk their lives. They risk everything they have to protect the community.”