Police Chase Culminating In Shootout Had Been Ordered Terminated

But why end a good thing, right?

CLEVELAND, Ohio—Someone with authority at a Cleveland police district saw hazards in a high-speed police chase last Thursday and ordered the district's officers not to participate five minutes before the pursuit ended in a deadly barrage of bullets on a dead-end road in East Cleveland.

Police Chief Michael McGrath said during a news conference Monday that he did not believe a supervisor had requested the chase be terminated.

But recordings of police radio transmissions released Monday evening feature two voices calling an end to the pursuit by 5th District officers of Timothy Russell, 43, and his passenger, Malissa Williams, 30, who police believed had fired shots near the Justice Center in downtown Cleveland.