Police investigating shooting at Ryan Place apartments

Police and investigators on the scene at Ryan Place Apartment complex on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016. The police were called around 4:15 p.m. when shots were reported.

Karl Schneider

The Kent Police Department responded to a shooting at 1632 E. Main St. Apt. 303 in Ryan Place Apartments around 4:15 p.m. Sunday night.

Captain Jim Prusha confirmed one person was shot and died at the scene but said he could not comment further due to the ongoing investigation. 

According to a press release from the Kent Police Department, the location of the suspects is unknown at this time. 

When police arrived they found a single deceased 18-year-old male. 

Kent Police Department Lieutenant Mike Lewis spoke to KentWired about the shooting. 

 

According to Kathy Miller, the apartment property manager, about 99 percent of the tenants at Ryan Place are Kent State students, with about two non-Kent State families also living in the buildings.

“I was getting pictures from my tenants and ran right over,” Miller said.

Miller lives about eight minutes from the apartments and was unaware of the shooting when she spoke with the Stater.

“I love all my residents, so I hope nothing bad happened,” she said.

Maxwell Eisenloeffel, a sophomore computer science major and resident of Ryan Place, said he lives on the first floor in the building where the police were investigating.

“Two officers came to my door and started asking if we had heard anything,” Eisenloeffel said. “I heard commotion on the third floor…(and) heard (someone) running around.”

Eisenloeffel said he saw pictures of police cars on the mobile app Yik Yak, and thought it looked like his apartment, he said.

A witness who works nearby and wished to be identified only as Ashley said she saw police cars swarm the building after a customer said he heard gunshots.

“One minute (after he said he heard shots), cop cars swarmed the apartment,” Ashley said. “But before that, some guy in, like, a cap ran out of the building. He looked really scared. He was, like, a witness or something because he was talking to the cops (when they showed up).”

Kent Police, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Invesitgation, Portage County Coroner’s office and Portage County Prosecutors Office are investigating.

Follow @kentwired on Twitter for updates.

Contact Karl Schneider at [email protected]