ALLIANCE, Ohio (WJW) — A 59-year-old man killed by police on Sunday reportedly used a woman as a human shield during a standoff.

Police were dispatched just after 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 3, to an apartment at 840 S. Linden Ave. A 911 caller said the resident, now identified as 59-year-old George Appleby, was holding a knife to the woman’s throat.

Police who arrived on-scene saw Appleby still had the knife to the woman’s throat. He retreated into the apartment and locked the door, according to a Monday morning news release from Alliance Police Department.

When police broke in, Appleby retreated into a bedroom and locked the door, “while using the female as a shield,” the release reads. Officers then broke into the bedroom.

Officers ordered Appleby to drop the knife, but he refused, and they fired two rounds, killing him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The woman was treated at a hospital for cuts to her throat and later released, according to police.

A law enforcement source initially told the FOX 8 I-Team police were called to the home for a domestic violence situation involving a woman and that the suspect had a knife.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is now investigating the shooting, which is procedural for officer-involved shootings.

Sources confirmed to the I-Team that no Alliance police officers were injured.