Officer Shot, Man Killed at Ohio Airport Ticket Counter

April 27, 2006
A man arguing with workers at an airport ticket counter grabbed a police officer's gun and shot a patrolman before he was killed by another officer.

A man who argued with workers at an airport ticket counter grabbed a police officer's gun and shot a patrolman before he was killed by another officer Thursday, authorities said.

The patrolman was shot twice in the chest but was in stable condition, authorities said. Another officer was treated for a bite to his neck by the suspect, McGrath said.

The man was identified by the Cuyahoga County Coroner's office as Kenneth Callaway, 38, of Willowick in suburban Cleveland.

The shootings at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport followed a disturbance earlier Thursday morning involving the same man in an airport parking garage, city Safety Director Martin Flask said.

Callaway then tried unsuccessfully to buy a ticket at the Delta Air Lines counter. After arguing with a Delta employee, he went to the adjacent United Airlines ticket counter and bought a ticket to Chicago, Flask said.

The United workers called police about the man, who then got into a confrontation with two officers, authorities said.

Authorities would not give any details on the argument at the ticket counter or the incident in the parking garage.

Flask said the man had a criminal record that included prison stays for burglary and drugs.

The shooting, shortly after 10 a.m., was in an area before security check points. The airport remained open and no flights were delayed. Airport officials led passengers arriving for flights around the crime scene to ticket counters.

The patrolman, Steve Walker, 52, was alert and talking to his wife Thursday afternoon, said Dr. Charles Yowler, a trauma physician at MetroHealth Medical Center. A Cleveland police officer for 18 years, including 10 at the airport, Walker had cracked ribs, a damaged lung and a bullet lodged in his back, the doctor said.

Bernice Walker said her husband of 21 years is a devoted father of two daughters.

Walker was not wearing a bulletproof vest. Police Chief Michael McGrath would not say whether that violated police rules.

Forty Cleveland police officers are assigned to the city-owned airport.

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