An Amherst PD Patrolman is in serious condition after being shot during a SWAT standoff situation Thursday night.
The suspect barricaded himself inside of his home and exchanged gunfire with police.
Ptl. Eugene Ptacek is a 17-year veteran on the force, and is listed as serious after MetroHealth staff worked to stabilize him.
Ptl. Ptacek was originally listed as critical, but as of June 4, he has been upgraded to serious condition.
Neighbors say it started around 2:30 in the afternoon when dozens of officers flooded their Sheffield Lake neighborhood.
"When I arrived, the street in front of my house was totally blocked, the street behind my house was totally blocked, there were six cops in the neighbor's garage," said neighbor Debra Amolsch.
Police kept asking a man named "Martin" over their megaphone to 'come out with his hands up.'
That man was later identified as Martin Robinson, a former employee of Northeast Reintegration Center in Cleveland, where he worked as a corrections officer.
This went on for several hours until neighbors said SWAT finally ambushed his home just after 7:30 p.m., then the gunfire started.
"He didn’t come out so they went in, tried to go in, you could hear them banging the door, there was a ton of gunfire, a lot of gunfire," said Mary Jane Smith.
Other neighbors tell News 5 they heard authorities yelling "officer down" after the exchange of gunfire, and saw an officer leaving the scene on a stretcher.
This all happened in Sheffield Lake in Lorain County on the corner of Ferndale and Howell. Just after midnight, it all came to an end.
News 5 crews were there when SWAT vehicles drove onto the suspect's yard, then they heard nine loud booms. Finally, after about 20 minutes, the suspect emerged with his hands up and authorities took him into custody.
The family asks for prayers and privacy, and no other information is being released at this time.
