CANTON, Ohio — Canton Police officers were shot at on Thursday night in Canton; a bullet grazed one officer who sustained minor injuries, officials said. Two men were apprehended and have been charged.
Officials said officers were shot at by the two men around 6 p.m. while working an investigation on the 200 block of 12th Street.
The 22-year-old suspect, Braylen Smallwood, was apprehended near the scene and the 21-year-old suspect, Trezjon Romello Allen, was arrested and taken into custody shortly after midnight.
Smallwood, from Canton, is charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of felonious assault on a police officer and discharge of a firearm on or near a prohibited premise.
Allen, from Massillon, was charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of felonious assault on a police officer, discharge of a firearm on or near a prohibited premise, having weapons under disability and participation in a criminal gang.
"Our officers were fired upon tonight," a Canton Police official told News 5 Thursday night. "By God's grace, they were not seriously injured. One officer was grazed but did not need medical treatment. We will issue more when we can."
The owner of the Desert Inn, a restaurant nearby, told News 5 crews at the scene that a suspect ran into his restaurant and left after they yelled at him to get out.
Catherine Coblentz, who was having dinner at the Desert Inn across the street from the scene, told News 5 she saw one of the suspects running from police. Coblentz said she was stunned one of the suspects tried to hide in the restaurant as he made his escape.
"The assailant, or whomever the gentleman was, entered the back of the restaurant and was trying to hide in there, and the kitchen staff asked him to leave," Coblentz said. "And you can tell by the body language that he was running aggressively, and then we just saw all the police and the sirens, and I just pointed them down the alley."
News 5 reporter Joe Pagonakis saw a police drone in the air Thursday night, apparently searching for a suspect.
The parking lot at the corner of 12th Street NW and Logan Avenue was taped off by authorities.
News 5 crews at the scene observed Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers at the scene along with agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations. BCI officials told News 5 their crime scene unit was requested to assist Canton Police.
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call Canton Police at 330-649-5800.
Watch live and local news any time:
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
