DAYTON — Dayton police detective Jorge DelRio, a 30-year veteran, was shot twice in the face as he entered the basement of a one-story brick house shortly after dark on Monday as officers tried to serve a search warrant.
DelRio, 55, a father and grandfather, is on advanced life support, suffering from grave injuries, said Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl at a City Hall press conference on Tuesday.
There was no change in his condition Tuesday night, the Dayton Police Department tweeted.
Officers on a DEA task force rolled up to the Ruskin Street house in a marked police car with its emergency lights flashing and wearing body armor, he said. Shortly after they went inside, DelRio came across Nathan Goddard Jr., hiding in the basement, Biehl said.
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DelRio fired his gun but was shot twice in his face, leading his fellow officers to call for an ambulance but then abandon the wait and rushed him to Grandview Hospital in a police car, Biehl said.
Officers packed the hallways and parking lot of the hospital to support DelRio, his wife, children and grandchildren, Biehl said.
Inside the house, officers found 50 kilograms of suspected marijuana packed into plastic totes, 13 kilograms of suspected fentanyl and cocaine stuffed in a duffel bag, $7,100 in cash spread across a coffee table and another $440,000 in cash in a plastic grocery bag, police said.
The federal ATF is now tracing the origin of two high-powered weapons found at the house, each with high-capacity 30-round magazines. One of the weapons was still in its packaging, tucked in a closet under the stairs.
DEA Special Agent in Charge Keith Martin had a message for drug dealers: “This won’t stop us. We will come after you.”
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Three of the adult suspects — Goddard, Cahke Cortner and Lionel Combs — are facing charges that carry potential life sentences.
Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein called the incident “yet another tragedy” and “a difficult period for this city.”
She asked the community for their continued support of Dayton police and said thoughts and prayers are with the department and the officer’s family.
Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. called the incident “an assault on this community.”
Heck was one of the first people who reached out to Biehl this morning, the chief said.
Biehl praised DelRio’s work as a detective and said that was loved by all at the department and had a great reputation with other law enforcement agencies.
Keith Martin, a regional DEA agent said that the task force that DelRio was part of was responsible for saving many lives by intercepting drugs.
He described the drug operation at the Ruskin Road home as large and not for personal use.
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