By Marci Piltz

Record-Courier staff writer

SOLON -- A 51-year-old man is in critical condition after he was shot Thursday morning during an exchange of gunfire with Aurora Police Chief Seth Riewaldt.

Riewaldt, who was in Solon to serve the man with an arrest warrant, was not injured in the incident.

The suspect, Jian Wei Chen, of 6510 Glenallen Ave., Solon, was taken to St. Vincent Emergency Center in Solon and then flown by Metro LifeFlight to Cleveland MetroHealth Medical Center. He was listed in critical condition at the hospital Thursday afternoon.

Aurora Mayor Lynn McGill said Riewaldt has been placed on paid administrative leave, which he said is "customary procedure following an incident such as this."

According to McGill, Chen was the suspect in a felony case that occurred in the city on Wednesday, and Aurora officers had visited Chen's home with Solon police late Wednesday.

Portage County court records show Aurora police obtained an arrest warrant Thursday against Chen on a felony charge of rape. McGill said officers also determined they needed a search warrant to serve the arrest warrant in Solon.

"Since it's in Cuyahoga County, they had to go into Cleveland to get that," McGill said.

Solon police said Thursday they had been notified by Aurora police that the search warrant was being obtained, and a short time later -- at 10:31 a.m. -- received a call about shots fired at the Glenallen location.

Riewaldt was conducting surveillance at Chen's home "because he did not want the suspect to leave" while the warrant was being obtained, McGill said.

"My understanding is that he saw the suspect come out, get into a car and it appeared as though he was going to leave," McGill said. "The chief approached the car, told him he was a police officer and ordered him not to leave. He then told him to keep his hands in plain view, but the suspect reached inside his jacket. The chief said, "Don't," he didn't listen and brought out a revolver."

McGill said he believed there was a brief struggle before shots were fired, and Riewaldt then drew his weapon and fired. He was unclear if Chen was inside or outside of his vehicle when he was shot, and said he believed Chen suffered a gunshot wound to the face.

Since the shooting occurred in Solon, that department will be conducting an investigation into the incident, police said.

"When someone draws a gun, unexpected things happen," McGill said Thursday. "Our chief has been here 28 years as a police officer and served the last four years as chief. He's a very brave man."

Lt. Robert Hagquist will serve as acting chief until Riewaldt is returned to duty, McGill said.

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