A North Royalton police officer has been hospitalized and a man has been shot dead after a domestic call turned violent on Friday night.
Police say the officer arrived to the Independence Place home to serve a probate order. Upon his arrival, he was stabbed in the face and the leg. Part of the knife got stuck in his leg.
Family members said the deceased is Jun Wang, a 45-year-old man who moved to America from China. County coroner's records show a man matching that description died last night.
Wang's sister, Julia Rielinger said she asked police to serve the probate order because Wang needed help. He had trouble with his illness when he was off his medication, which she says he was at the time of the shooting.
She said she was with officers when they served the order and asked them to talk to her brother first to deescalate the situation.
"If they let me go talk to him, it probably would not have happened," Rielinger said. "The police would not get hurt and he would not be dead."
Rielinger said the sight of the officers scared her brother, and that's when he ran upstairs and grabbed a knife. Police say Wang then stabbed the officer in the face and the leg.
Wang was shot twice by police, according to his sister. The officers tried to perform CPR before he was taken to a hospital, but she said it was too late.
"I'm just extremelly shocked. I cried my eyes out," Rielinger said. "I have no tears left because I'm just in total shock. I did not expect this ... did not think it would happen."
Wang has a history of mental illness going back to when he was a 16-years-old living in China, according to his sister.
He was living with her off and on for years at the Independence Place residence, but Rielinger wanted Wang to get serious medical help.
Fire crews said they transported the officer to MetroHeath Medical Center. Police say his injuries are believed to be serious, but not life-threatening. The officer went into surgery around 2:30 a.m. and his condition is unknown.
The County Sheriff's Department will take over the investigation of the shooting because it involves officers, according to North Royalton Police Detective David Loeding. The two officers involved in the shooting are veterans, each having spent more than 10 years in law enforcement. They're both on paid leave pending the investigation.
