Staff report

WARREN — The Warren police officer who claimed he was shot at when checking on a motorist last week turned himself in to the Howland Police Department on Tuesday after a sealed affidavit was turned into the Trumbull County Clerk of Court by an investigator with the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office.

Warren police officer Noah Linnen, 23, turned himself in shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to Howland police Chief Nick Roberts, who said a press conference will take place at 9 a.m. today at the department.

The affidavit is expected to be unsealed this morning.

Linnen was booked into the Trumbull County Jail on charges of tampering with evidence, disrupting public services, inducing panic and falsification, according to jail records. There is no information on the Trumbull County Common Pleas Court website indicating a hearing time or date for Linnen.

Linnen was placed on paid administrative leave after reportedly being shot at by someone in a dark-colored SUV stopped on the road between Burton Street and DeForest Avenue.

Multiple law enforcement agencies investigated the shooting and its aftermath. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation led the investigation and the Howland department was involved because the incident occurred in the township. Warren police conducted its own internal investigation, per its use-of-force policy.

Steve Irwin, spokesman for the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, said Howland police asked BCI to investigate the officer-involved shooting that Linnen was involved in last week, but that investigation remains open.

“Since it is still open, we have no information to share,” Irwin said.

Several police departments were involved in the search for the alleged shooter. Roberts said Linnen is the only person who has been arrested in connection with the shooting.

Linnen said in his statement he was traveling south on Pine Avenue when he noticed what he believed was a disabled vehicle. Linnen said as he approached the vehicle, someone pulled out a silver revolver and shot toward him. He was not wearing a bulletproof vest.

When he called for help, Linnen initially said he had been shot. However, it was later determined he had not been.

Linnen described the shooter as wearing dark pants, a dark shirt and a hoodie, according to a Trumbull County 911 call log.

During his initial call to Trumbull County 911, dispatchers were told Linnen had been shot two times. Linnen said he exchanged gunfire with the suspect, and there were multiple bullet holes in Linnen’s vehicle, the police report states.

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