Cleveland - NewsNet5-TV
The Youngstown Police Department is looking for a suspect after a Youngstown officer was killed early this morning, according to NewsChannel5.
Patrolman Michael Hartzell, 26, was killed after he stopped a car in downtown Youngstown on Federal Street in front of Powers Auditorium at about 2:30 a.m.
Police Chief Bob Bush said Hartzell called for a license plate check on a car before he was killed. Hartzell, who was sworn into the police department in 2000, was shot in his cruiser. The car didn’t come back stolen, however, the Youngstown Vindicator reported.
Initially, it was believed that a call to a bar at Castle Roma on Mahoning Avenue around the same time was connected to the shooting.
Area police departments, the FBI (news - web sites) and SWAT have an apartment complex surrounded on the corner of Youngstown and Boardman Avenue, near Boardman, Ohio. Officials later found out that the believed suspect was already in jail on another case.
According to the Youngstown Vindicator, police are searching for Martin L. Koliser. No age or address is available. This is the first death of a Youngstown officer in the line of duty in 11 years.