Posted on January 28, 2021

TPD Officer Dies Following Standoff in Central Toledo

WTOL, January 19, 2021

A Toledo police officer has died after both he and a suspect in the arson and vandalism of Rosary Cathedral were shot in a standoff Monday afternoon.

The police department held a news conference just hours after the incident, in which the officer was identified as 24-year-old Officer Brandon Stalker.

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Toledo Police Chief George Kral said there was a warrant out for a suspect’s arrest in relation to the Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral fire and vandalism that occurred early Monday morning.

A series of warrants shows that suspect to be Christopher A. Harris, 27.

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Harris fired at officers during the standoff, striking Stalker, according to Toledo police. He was shot by police on scene and pronounced dead at the hospital.

According to Toledo Municipal Court documents, a warrant was issued for Harris for spray painting “Jesus is black” and “black” multiple times on Rosary Cathedral on Collingwood Boulevard on Monday morning.

He is also accused of pouring a flammable liquid on the doors of the cathedral and lighting it. There was damage to the doors but not the inside of the cathedral.

On a separate warrant filed Monday, Harris is also accused of spray painting the inside of his previous apartment at 2062 N. 14th St. in Toledo on Jan. 8.

The same message painted on the cathedral was found on the Facebook page of a “Danny Love,” which is a known alias of Harris.

For the two incidents, Harris faced charges of ethnic intimidation, two vandalism and two aggravated arson charges.

A Facebook page of “Danny Love” contained a posting from the morning of the shooting: “Jesus is Black though.” There were also several posts referencing a standoff with police.

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The events leading up to Officer Stalker’s death began just before 4 p.m. on Monday as officers spotted Harris outside of a residence on the 2200 block of Fulton Street.

When police approached the Fulton Street residence, he went around the corner, brandished a firearm and then fled inside his house.

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Officers reportedly tried to negotiate for two hours with Harris. However, these attempts were unsuccessful. The SWAT team fired tear gas into the house in an attempt to get Harris to exit the home and surrender. Stalker was not a member of the SWAT team but was doing perimeter security work during the standoff.

After the tear gas was deployed, Harris exited the house with a firearm in both hands and fired shots in several directions.

One shot struck Stalker in the head. {snip}

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