MEDINA COUNTY, Ohio — An Ohio Amber Alert was canceled after authorities safely located a 7-year-old girl believed to have been abducted out of Jefferson County on Monday, and officials now say the suspect is dead following a pursuit down Interstate 71 south in Medina County.
Police initially reported that the child was taken by her non-custodial father, identified as 43-year-old Charles Alexander, following an altercation in the village of Empire around 3 p.m. According to a press release, the pair had been traveling in a Ford F-150 pickup truck before eventually getting into a U-Haul.
Captain Eric Bors with the Medina County Sheriff's Office confirmed law enforcement tracked the suspect vehicle more than 100 miles away to Brunswick, where police officers attempted to pull the truck over at roughly 8 p.m. A chase involving several departments then followed along the highway, with authorities deploying stop sticks that eventually forced the vehicle to exit I-71 at state Route 18 in Medina Township.
The U-Haul came to a stop in a parking lot near an Arby's, where the sheriff's office says dispatchers and other authorities spoke with Alexander via telephone in an attempt to negotiate. In a media release sent early Tuesday morning, the sheriff's office claimed "multiple guns (sic) shots were fired in an officer-involved shooting." After the bullets rang out, Alexander was pronounced dead at the scene by Medina County Coroner Dr. Lisa Deranek.
Authorities have not specified exactly how Alexander died. Per Bors, the young girl "appears to be completely OK" and was reunited with her mother. No officers were injured during the incident.
A portion of I-71 was closed due to the incident. Bors said officials would be opening the highway back up "as soon as we can." Customers at a nearby Buffalo Wild Wings also said the restaurant was placed on lockdown for a time.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is assisting the Medina County Sheriff's Office in its probe of the incident. Members of the Medina Township Police Department, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Brunswick Division of Police, Montville Police Department, U.S. Marshals Service, Medina Fire Department, and Cleveland Clinic Life Support Team responded to the scene.