By Kim Palmer
CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A man shot and killed after he crashed his car and struggled with an Ohio police officer was a 26-year-old college student and citizen of the United Arab Emirates, officials said on Tuesday.
Saif Nasser Mubarak Alameri, a student at Cleveland's Case Western Reserve University, died from a gunshot wound to the head on Sunday and his death has been ruled homicide, the Summit County Medical Examiner's office said.
Police officers responded to a call around 3 p.m. about an erratic driver on the Ohio Turnpike in Hudson, Ohio, 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Cleveland, police said in a statement. The driver, Alameri, eventually lost control of his vehicle, which flipped, and he fled into the nearby woods.
Alameri was eventually located by a police officer who shot him after a struggle, police said.
The officer, who has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, has not been identified. He was transported to Akron City Hospital for minor injuries after the shooting and released, police said.
Case Western Reserve spokesman Bill Lubinger said Alameri was a student, but did not release any further details.
Alameri's car was processed Tuesday by the state's Bureau of Criminal Investigation after Hudson Police asked for the state to take over the investigation into the shooting.
“We are looking into what exactly happened and what led up to the shooting and then will hand the case over to the prosecutor,” said Jill Del Greco, spokeswoman for the Ohio Attorney General.
She said it has not been determined if Alameri had a weapon at the time of the shooting.
Mohammed Mer Al Raisi, under-secretary at the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement on Tuesday that the UAE embassy was looking into the shooting.
"After details of the painful incident are clarified by the authorities, the Ministry will issue a more comprehensive statement," Al Raisi said.
(Reporting by Kim Palmer)
