MEDINA TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Last night’s Amber Alert came to a violent end, with the man being sought in connection to a missing 7-year-old girl out of Jefferson County killed during a police shooting in Medina Township.
The girl is safe, according to Medina County Sheriff Terry Grice.
Authorities held a news conference Tuesday afternoon to provide details on what prompted the Amber Alert and how it ended up with the suspect dead.
The statewide alert sent Monday evening said the girl was last seen around 3 p.m. Monday on Midway Street in Empire when her father, Charles Ryan Alexander, who did not have custody of her, allegedly abducted her from a family member's home after an argument.
Earlier that day, Alexander tried to pick the girl up from school, but school officials contacted the child's grandmother because he didn't have custody, Grice said.
After the grandmother took the child home, the sheriff said that the suspect went to her home and took her. Additionally, he also struck another woman with his Ford F-150 at the home before fleeing. Sometime later, he left the pickup truck at a hotel in Fairlawn and stole a U-Haul truck.
Brunswick Police Chief Robert Safran said his department was notified that Alexander was in their area around 8 p.m., and a nearby officer located the U-Haul truck by a restaurant and attempted to make contact with the suspect as he was walking back to the vehicle. The officer shouted at Alexander to stop, but Safran said he jumped in the truck and drove off.
A slow-speed chase ensued on Center Road, and Safran said Alexander struck a Brunswick police cruiser with the U-Haul truck. The truck continued east until it got to Interstate 71. Just before it got to the entrance ramp, Brunswick officers used stop sticks to disable one of the vehicle's front tires, slowing the chase down even further.
Brunswick police continued to chase the truck south on the freeway until they hit Route 18 near Medina Township. During the chase, Alexander called 911 and threatened to shoot his daughter and himself if police didn't stop pursuing him, Safran said.
The vehicle came to a stop in a fast food business parking lot. Safran said that when officers tried to approach the vehicle, shots were fired in their direction. The officers retreated and called in for "additional resources."
At that point, Grice said the suspect was in communication with dispatch centers by phone, and multiple agencies responded.
"Extensive efforts were made in negotiations with the suspect to try to have a safe ending to the situation," Grice said. "After multiple threats were made to his daughter, a member of the Ohio State Highway Patrol Special Response Team did neutralize the threat."
Grice continued, "I will say this, that decision is never made easy. That's a difficult situation for that trooper. But, that act alone, right then, saved this little girl; there's no doubt in my mind."
You can watch part of the news conference in the player below:
Authorities played a compilation of phone conversations the suspect had with police after calling 911 during an afternoon news conference, as well as dash camera and drone video showing the chase and officers rescuing the girl.
In one of the calls, the man could be heard saying he would "off us both," if police didn't back off. He also demanded that he talk to the child's mother. The little girl could also be heard on one of the calls saying she didn't "want to go to heaven today."
After hearing that, the dispatcher Alexander spoke to kept him on the line, telling him not to do anything that he "can't undo."
"It's too late," Alexander said.
"No, it's not too late," the dispatcher responded.
During the call, Alexander said he was giving his daughter the chance to say goodbye to her mother.
"I know, but hold on, wait a second...listen to me; take a breath," the dispatcher said.
"If you're listening (the mother's name), you should have called me," Alexander said.
The girl repeated, "Am I going to heaven today? I don't want to go to heaven today...I don't want to."
The dispatcher responded, "Hold on a second. We're still here. There are other options— we have options."
The dispatcher told Alexander that they were getting an officer who was there to come to talk to him.
"I don't want to talk to anyone," Alexander told her.
"Just keep talking to her," the dispatcher said. "You don't want her to be scared. You don't want to hurt. I know you don't want to hurt her. I know this is about the courts and about it being unfair, and let's not do anything that is going to make it even more unfair to her because you love her; I know you do, you wouldn't be doing this if you didn't; you don't go through this if you don't, so let's not do anything that we can't fix, OK?"
"OK," Alexander said a moment later, followed by, "your games are over."
Grice said that the trooper made a split-second decision that saved the child's life.
"That decision by the trooper, the courage, the professionalism, none of us, no one up here, no one in this room ever wants to be in that position," Grice said during the news conference, motioning to members of the other agencies. "But, his decision, without a doubt, saved that little girl."
Alexander was pronounced dead at the scene.
The 7-year-old girl was returned to her family unharmed.
While Grice said that no officers were injured, there is an emotional toll on everyone involved. He commended the officers who responded and the dispatch centers.
"The stress that goes into these types of phone calls, I mean, they all do a tremendous job and are true professionals and were heroic," Grice said.
Scott Simonton, another dispatcher involved on Monday night, said he played an important role in keeping the little girl safe.
“I took a 911 call, and it was the dad,” said Simonton.
At first, Simonton said he felt overwhelmed by the unexpected call.
“The further the call got along and some of the stuff you hear, of course you’re like ‘Oh man, this could be emotional,” said Simonton.
But during that three-to-five-minute conversation, Simonton said he knew what had to be done to save the young girl’s life.
“Everything’s different. Every call’s different so this call, I mean we had to be cautious,” said Simonton.
Now, Simonton said he’s thankful for everyone’s cooperation, including his dispatch partners, through a rather challenging and overwhelming situation.
“You learn how to deal with it the best you can,” said Simonton.
