Trumbull deputies searching for person who shot officer

By ELISE FRANCO

Wearing a bulletproof vest saved the life of a Newton Township police officer.

NEWTON TOWNSHIP — The Trumbull County Sheriff’s Department is sending deputies out today to canvass the area where Newton Township Police Officer Tom Colosimo was shot.

The officer was shot in the chest while on patrol Monday afternoon but walked away virtually unscathed, thanks to the bulletproof vest he was wearing.

Trumbull County Sheriff Tom Altiere said an investigation by the sheriff’s department will take place to catch the person responsible.

“It’s early, and we’re just looking into it, but I am sure we’re going to find out what happened and who did it,” he said.

“We’re going back tomorrow to the exact location to see if we can scan that area and find any evidence there.”

Gunfire was exchanged on Miller-Graber Road in Newton Falls between Colosimo and an unidentified suspect around 3:30 p.m. Monday.

Colosimo called 911 just before the shooting to let dispatchers know he was patrolling the area around a cell phone tower on Miller-Graber Road. A few minutes later, he radioed in to say that he’d been shot, Altiere said.

Colosimo was taken to St. Joseph Health Center and was released last night.

In May, Colosimo was involved in another incident on Miller-Graber Road, when a train struck a police car he had parked on railroad tracks while investigating suspicious activity in the area.

No one was injured, but the car sustained serious damage.