Undercover Cleveland detective, informant killed

CLEVELAND — A Cleveland police detective who had just joined a federal violence task force was shot and killed in his unmarked car along with a police informant during a drug operation, officials said Friday.

Three people have been arrested in the shooting that killed detective James Skernivitz, 53, and another man Thursday night.

Cleveland Safety Director Karrie Howard said at a news briefing Friday afternoon that two juveniles and an adult taken into custody for unrelated arrest warrants are being questioned.

Their names have not been released.

Scott Dingess, 50, has been identified by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office as the other man killed inside Skernivitz’s car in the city’s Stockyards neighborhood.

An emotional Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams did not provide details about the shootings during the briefing.

“It could have been random, it could have been targeted,” Williams said. “We don’t know. We’re still investigating.”

Skernivitz and Dingess were shot around 10 p.m. Thursday on the city’s west side. A Cleveland police official knowledgeable about some details of the shooting, but who was not authorized to speak publicly, told the Associated Press that Skernivitz was working undercover as part of a drug operation and that Dingess was a police informant.

At least five other sources said that Skernivitz was conducting an undercover investigation into drug dealing. Someone opened fire on the two men as they sat in Skernivitz’s unmarked car, then tried to drive away and crashed.

Jeff Follmer, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, said there were no other officers in the area when the two men were shot.

Officials have not said whether Skernivitz was working Thursday night as part of the federal task force or as a member of the Cleveland police gang unit to which he was normally assigned.

Skernivitz was a 25-year veteran. Williams at Friday’s briefing called him a “policeman’s policeman.”

Skernivitz was married with two adult children. He was hired in 1998 and previously worked in the 3rd and 4th districts.

Skernivitz and other law-enforcement officers were sworn in Wednesday at the Cleveland FBI office to become members of the FBI’S Violent Crime Task Force in support of Operation Legend, a Justice Department effort to crack down on violent crime in a number of U.S. cities, including Cleveland, said FBI spokesperson Vicki Anderson.

Gov. Mike Dewine ordered the U.S. and state flags to be flown at half-staff at public buildings in Cuyahoga County and at the Statehouse in Columbus.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost issued a statement Friday morning on the shooting.

“Detective Skernivitz gave his life trying to keep danger off the streets of Cleveland,” Yost said. “This tragedy shows once again the valor and honor of the police – and that there are yet dangerous, evil men in the world who must be brought to justice. My heart breaks for his family, and I pray that in their grief, they find solace in his legacy of service and sacrifice.”

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said Thursday that 54 defendants have been charged criminally, including 39 people for drug-related offenses, since

Operation Legend got underway in Cleveland on July 29.

It has been more than 10 years since an on-duty Cleveland police officer was fatally shot.

Patrol Officer Derek Owens, 36, was killed in February 2008 while chasing a suspect. Owens caught up to the man, who turned and shot Owens in the abdomen below his bulletproof vest.

The man was found guilty of aggravated murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole.