Sean Michael Acierno and Timoteo 'Tim' Cruz, an off-duty Cuyahoga County corrections officer, both died in the shooting.
A pair of suspects, who were arrested following a deadly weekend shooting that claimed the lives of two people at a Parma bar, both appeared before a judge for arraignment in Parma Municipal Court Wednesday morning.
Luis Candelario was the first to appear, facing two charges of complicity to commit aggravated murder. During the brief appearance, Candelario waived his right to a preliminary hearing. The judge said the case will now go before a grand jury for further proceedings with his next court appearance scheduled for 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, March 23.
Juan Perez, the other suspect, appeared a short time later on charges of two counts of aggravated murder. Perez remained mostly silent for the duration of his hearing in which the judge denied bail and set a preliminary court date for Wednesday, March 24 at 10:30 a.m.
The situation happened at the Rookie Sports Bar & Grill around 2:13 a.m. Saturday. Sean Michael Acierno and Timoteo "Tim" Cruz both died at the scene. Cruz, an off-duty Cuyahoga County corrections officer working as a security guard for the bar, fired his own weapon at the suspects after Acierno was shot first.
"Due to Cruz’s heroic actions, he most likely saved additional lives while giving up his own life as other bar patrons were still in the area or exiting the bar," Parma police Lt. Dan Ciryak wrote.
Cruz, a 27-year-old Cleveland resident, had worked with the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department since 2017.
Sheriff Christopher Viland released the following statement regarding Cruz's death: "We would like to extend our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to his family and those who were close to him. No words can ease the loss to those remaining. While we will not have any comments on the incident, or the currently ongoing criminal investigation, it appears from information we have at this time that Officer Cruz was killed while actively protecting the lives of innocent people. There is no more honorable of a path than to have sacrificed in the service of others."
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