CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland leaders including Police Chief Calvin Williams held an emotional press conference Friday, where they shared that the department lost not one, but two of their own.
“I don’t think anybody out there can really understand what the division is going through; the loss of an officer in the line of duty especially to violence is a terrible tragedy, but two officers in one night is really bad,” said Williams
Officials say Det. James Skernivitz, who served the division for over 22 years, was shot and killed along with another individual police described as an informant. The two were killed while sitting in Skernivitz’s unmarked car in the area of West 65th Street Thursday night. Safety Director Karrie Howard said Skernivitz was a veteran detective who was recently sworn in as a member of The Violent Crime Task Force to work as part of Operation Legend, a federal initiative focused on reducing gang violence and drug crimes.
“Skern, as a lot of folks out there called him, was one that we wanted to duplicate over and over again because he did the work that needed to be done,” Williams said
Three people have been arrested on unrelated warrants, one juvenile and two adults. Officials said they may be involved in the detective’s death, but also noted they are still piecing together details of what lead up to the shooting.
“We need that to put this puzzle together and to make sure we bring the people responsible for this to justice and that we give Jimmy’s family some peace in this process,” Williams said.
During the press conference, Williams also revealed the loss of officer Nick Sabo, who died by suicide hours after the shooting of Skernivitz. It’s unknown if the two have worked together in the past, and Williams said the department is looking into it.
Law enforcement officials said they do not know if this shooting was random or intentional, and the investigation is ongoing. They are asking people with any information to call the FBI tip line at 216-622-6842.
