Cleveland officer fatally shot while trying to serve a warrant

CLEVELAND (AP) — A Cleveland police officer was shot to death early Thursday while trying to serve a warrant on the city’s east side.

Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd said the 27-year-old officer was shot at about 1 a.m. in the city’s Hough neighborhood, local news outlets reported. She did not name the officer.

De’Lawnte Hardy, 24, has been charged with aggravated murder.

The officer was part of a team dispatched to serve Hardy with a warrant for felonious assault, Todd said. As many as 10 officers were part of that team.

When they arrived, Hardy was seen fleeing the home on a bicycle, according to Todd. Officers tried to stop him and Hardy allegedly fired a gun multiple times, striking the officer, Todd said.

Hardy was taken into custody and transported to a hospital as a “precautionary measure,” Todd said. He is held at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center. It was unclear whether Hardy has an attorney. A message was left with the county justice center and no one answered the phone at the sheriff’s records center.

The officer had worked for the department for four years, Todd said.

Officers, Todd said, “go out there, they work hard. They risk their lives. They risk everything they have to protect the community.”