COLUMBIANA COUNTY, Ohio — A community in mourning gathered to remember the life of a little girl and pray for the recovery of a police officer, Thursday evening.
More than a hundred held vigil for St. Clair Township Police Detective Dakota Wetzel at the Calcutta, Ohio fire department.
Wetzel was shot in the head, Wednesday while police confronted a man who was said to be suicidal.
According to police, the suspect, 30-year-old Joseph Como, opened fire on them, hitting Wetzel in the head and striking 4-year-old Rosalie Martin.
The little girl was inside a dentist office during the shootout. She later died.
“Two calls you never want to deal with is a fellow officer down and things involving children. We had them both in one day,” a Calcutta firefighter said at Thursday’s vigil.
“This is probably one of the biggest things we’ve been up against,” Fire Chief David McCoy said.
He knows Detective Wetzel.
According to police, Wetzel is in stable condition at UPMC Presbyterian. They say he was able to open his eyes and give his family a “thumbs up.”
“He’s strong. To go through what he went through and to give us a ‘thumbs up,’ he knows people are rooting for him,” McCoy said.
“I can’t imagine taking my child in for a routine dentist appointment and not coming out,” Marlea Bidwell told us. She and her family don’t know either victim but came to show support.
She has a daughter the same age as little Rosalie.
“We have to come together in a time like this. If we don’t, who do you have?” Bidwell said.
There are multiple fundraisers ongoing for both families.
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