Anthony Dia Wiki – Biography
Anthony Dia, was responding to a call at about 12:11 a.m. about an intoxicated man walking around the parking lot of the store, Toledo police Chief George Kral said during a news conference. Several groups of people were gathered in the store’s parking lot, witnesses told The Blade. The location serves as sort of hang-out spot where informal car shows are held. The man was drinking and arguing with some of those gathered when police received a 911 call and dispatched an officer to the area.
“Officer Dia was the first crew to arrive that morning on a check safety [call],” the chief said. “He was checking to make sure that this man was OK.”
Witnesses told police the 57-year-old male suspect was walking away when he turned and fired one round from a handgun. Officer Dia was struck in the chest, Chief Kral said. The suspect’s identification has not been released.
Other officers quickly placed their injured comrade into a cruiser and sped off to ProMedica Toledo Hospital, where the chief said he died. The last Toledo officer killed in the line of duty was in 2007.
Anthony Dia Age
Anthony Dia is 26 years old.
Suspect
After the shooting, the suspect went into a nearby wooded area. Police used a drone and a police dog to search the area, and officers reported hearing a single gunshot from the woods. Officers found the suspect about 3:15 a.m. dead of a single gunshot wound to the head, the chief said.
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz spoke during Saturday’s news conference in a halting voice, describing the scene he found when he arrived at Toledo Hospital at 2 a.m.
“I arrived, and it was a horrific and heartbreaking moment,” he said. “And to my dying day, I will never forget the sight of Officer Dia being wheeled out of the hospital on a gurney, his body wrapped in an American flag, flanked by about 30 Toledo police officers saluting and weeping.”
Eyewitnesses told WTOL they saw the suspect shoot the officer, who was responding to a call about a person causing a disturbance in the parking lot.
There was no immediate indication that a suspect had been arrested or identified.
Family
Matthew Kleinert, who set up the campaign, has been in touch with Dia’s family. “Share for helping the family of young Officer Dia. He leaves behind a big family and a big heart. (He was) a loving officer that treated his community as a citizen, (an) honorable person, not just the word ‘officer’,” Kleinert wrote in the campaign description.
For more information or to donate to Dia’s family, click here.
Off the Rails will donate all tips collected Saturday to the Dia family as well. The food truck will be at Earnest Brew Works at noon. Officer Dia was a family man — a son, father, and husband — as evidenced by his own social media posts, Mr. Kapszukiewicz said.
Officer Dia’s profile picture included him and a young boy, while his profile picture included a photo of three dogs. He married his wife, Leigh, in April, 2012, according to his Facebook page.
For his birthday in January, 2019, Officer Dia asked for donations to help Concerns of Police Survivors, an organization that helps the family and co-workers of officers involved in line-of-duty deaths. The organization provides resources to help rebuild their lives.
Cause of Death
Toledo Fire Chief Brian Byrd broke news of the death to the wider first-responder community through an announcement over the emergency radio network, as is customary.
“This is a special announcement from Chief 111. It is with deep regret that we announce the loss of Toledo Police Officer Anthony Dia, who was shot and killed in the line of duty at approximately 12:30 tonight,” Chief Byrd said in his message.
Chief Byrd told The Blade Officer Dia had already been taken to a hospital by another officer in a squad car by the time fire crews arrived on scene. A large police presence was visible in the parking lots around the big-box store at about 3:30 a.m., with roughly 10 cruisers on scene, some blocking access to the area.
A witness to the shooting, Toledo resident Shalene Houke, fought back sobs as she described to The Blade the events she witnessed. Ms. Houke said she and a group of friends were gathered in the Home Depot’s parking lot when a man who was not associated with them started making trouble. The man, who appeared to be highly intoxicated, had a dog with him, and was bothering another group of people nearby, Ms. Houke said.
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When Officer Dia arrived at the parking lot he tried to speak to the man, but the man as he began walking away. The officer told the man to stop, but he kept walking. Eventually the man with the dog stopped walking and crouched down behind some stacked up gardening supplies, Ms. Houke said. That’s when the shooting started.
Ms. Houke said she saw the man with the dog open fire first. The officer then returned fire before he went down. Ms. Houke and a friend approached the officer, and heard him asking for help and saying he’d been shot before he slipped into unconsciousness.
“He was young, and he was scared,” she said.
More police quickly arrived on scene. They tried to shake the officer awake, and then stripped him of his gear while trying to determine where he was shot, Ms. Houke said.
Multiple gunshots can be heard on a social media video taken at the scene and posted online. The gunshots are followed by individuals screaming, and vehicles pulling away as police cruisers with lights and sirens race toward the location.
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz spoke during Saturday’s news conference in a halting voice, describing the scene he found when he arrived at Toledo Hospital at 2 a.m.
“I arrived, and it was a horrific and heartbreaking moment,” he said. “And to my dying day, I will never forget the sight of Officer Dia being wheeled out of the hospital on a gurney, his body wrapped in an American flag, flanked by about 30 Toledo police officers saluting and weeping.”
Investigation report
Toledo police Chief George Kral was expected to hold a news conference at 6 a.m. Saturday, the Blade reported.
About 10 police vehicles that responded to the scene were still in the Home Deport parking lot around 3:30 a.m. as an investigation was underway, the newspaper reported.