TOLEDO, Ohio — A Toledo police officer is on paid administrative leave after the officer fired their service weapon at an alleged armed shooting suspect on early Sunday morning, according to Toledo police.
TPD says officers responded to the area of Geneva and Arlington avenues around 1:19 a.m. on reports of shots being fired.
They were unable to locate a scene at the time.
Around an hour later, an officer who remained in the area claimed to see a suspect, identified by police as 40-year-old Michael Thomas, approach Crox Bar in the 1700 block of Arlington Avenue.
Thomas allegedly began firing into the bar with a rifle and was shot at by the officer, who has not yet been identified, according to the press release.
In a court record, the officer stated that Thomas was standing on the sidewalk and was shooting at several individuals who were gathered in the enclosed patio area of the bar.
The officer did not hit Thomas, who then fled the scene in a vehicle, according to police. Thomas was later located by officers, taken into custody and booked into the Lucas County jail on two counts of felonious assault.
No one was injured in either incident.
According to the bar's owner, the alleged shooter was a regular customer at Crox. The owner says, earlier in the night, Thomas got into a dispute with several patrons, after which Thomas and others were kicked out of the bar by security.
Crox released the following statement to WTOL 11 on Sunday:
"Due to the ongoing investigation we decline to give any evidence or pictures at this time. Crox is a community bar where it involves more than just drinking. We serve food and have community gatherings. We gave out over 250 book bags with supplies and served the children free breakfast all summer. We thrive on creating a safe atmosphere for our patrons and neighborhood. The suspect was inside the bar and got into an altercation with another patron and they were all removed. An hour later he came back shooting at the bar while driving in his car. No one was injured or hurt. We have hired off duty Toledo Police officers on the weekend but they notified us that day they were unable to send any officers.
We will continue to do everything in our power to provide a fun safe environment for our community and to serve it as we have. Hopefully some of our outreach programs and positive neighborhood events can get this type of exposure and not just random acts of violence that unfortunately touches every community."
According to TPD, the officer who fired his weapon will be placed on paid administrative leave per collective bargaining agreements.
The officer's information and body camera footage will also be released at a later time.
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