"I will kill you, you wanna die?"

Amherst – "I will kill you, you wanna die?" Those are the words Amherst Police Officers heard coming from inside an Amherst home Friday night after responding to a 9-1-1 hang up call.

Lt. Joseph Kucirek of the Amherst Police Department said the Officers were dispatched at 9:29 P.M. to a home on Washington Ave in Amherst after 9-1-1 had received a hang up call from the residence and Police Dispatchers were unable to get someone to answer the phone upon call backs. “Upon arrival, officers initiated an investigation into the incident. One officer observed lights on in the back of the house. While investigating, officers were able to hear a male inside the house yelling, "I will kill you, you wanna die?" One officer then observed through the kitchen window, a large framed male lift a metal object up into the air and forcefully slam it down. Officers could also hear another male voice say, "Please don't kill me".

Lt. Kucirek said that initial attempts by Officers to forcibly gain entry to the home were unsuccessful. Eventually the suspect left the kitchen area and went to the front door of the home where one Officer was located. The suspect opened the door, grabbed the Officer and a “long and violent struggle ensued.”

The Officer fought the male off and took him to the ground where he was handcuffed and arrested.

Once the suspect was secured and additional Officers arrived on scene, a search of the home for additional suspects or victims began by Officers. A male victim was located inside the den area of the home where he was still on the phone with 9-1-1.

LifeCare Ambulance Paramedics treated and transported the victim to Community Health Partners and was later taken to another hospital where he is listed in stable condition.

Lt. Joseph Kucirek said it was learned during the course of the investigation that the suspect had forced entry to the residence by way of a rear sliding glass door. Once the victim returned home the suspect attacked him causing him “serious physical harm.”

The male suspect has been identified as Mr. Kent A. Shroyer (age 40) of Amherst. Shroyer was arrested and charged with Attempted Aggravated Murder, Aggravated Burglary, Felonious Assault, Assault of a Police Officer, Disrupting Public Service, and Resisting Arrest.

Shroyer is being held without bond at the Lorain County Jail and is scheduled to appear in Oberlin Municipal Court on Tuesday March 16, 2008 at 0830 hours.

The Amherst detective bureau responded to the location and processed the scene.

In what might be a related incident, Amherst Police were called to a North Main Street home at 11:51 P.M. after the homeowner there returned home and found that his house had been burglarized. The homeowner told Officers that they left the house several hours earlier and upon their arrival back home, the noticed someone made entry into their home by breaking out the glass of an exterior door. Officers searched the home for any suspects but found the house empty.

The suspect(s) did removed items from the home and Amherst Police found numerous amounts of evidence that has been processed by the Detective Bureau.

The Amherst Police Detective Bureau continues to investigate both cases.

Booking Photo Courtesy: Lorain County Sheriff’s Department