Barberton council proposes naming bridge after slain Ohio officer

BARBERTON, Ohio (AP) — Officials in northeast Ohio have proposed naming a county bridge after a police officer who was fatally shot while trying to get an unruly armed customer out of a pub.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports Barberton City Council is asking residents to weigh in on naming a bridge after slain Akron police officer Justin Winebrenner.

Thirty-two-year-old Winebrenner, who lived in Barberton, was killed in November. Police say Winebrenner tried to intervene when an unruly man who was asked to leave a pub returned with a gun.

Winebrenner’s former classmates have pushed for the proposal.

A previous proposal to name the bridge after Martin Luther King Jr. was met with opposition, as many thought it should be named after someone from Barberton. Others oppose naming the bridge after any individual.