PERRYSBURG – A Livonia, Mich., man is in the Wood County Justice Center following an incident with a
loaded gun Tuesday at the Islamic Center on Schreider Road in Perrysburg Township.
Ylli Gocaj, 26, is being held on $50,000 cash bond on a charge of illegal conveyance of a firearm in a
school safety zone, a felony. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 20 at 9:30 a.m. in
Perrysburg Municipal Court.
Police were called to the center because a receptionist and maintenance man became concerned about
questions Gocaj was asking of the staff.
When police arrived the suspect and the maintenance man were in the parking lot. Police observed the
suspect holding a GPS unit. Upon questioning, Gocaj told officers that his vehicle broke down on the
highway and that he had sat in the car for a long time but no one stopped to help. Gocaj said he saw the
mosque and old officers "it called him as a place that he could get help."
Gocaj was then asked where he was heading before his car broke down and he responded "I thought I
was going to heaven." When pressed for an explanation Gocaj said he was driving, listening to music
and talking to his friends that were talking to him through the music.
At that point police decided to pat down Gocaj and asked if he had anything they ought to know about. He
admitted to having a gun and added that he had a concealed carry permit from Michigan. He was
immediately placed in cuffs and searched. A 9mm semi-automatic handgun was found in the suspect’s
waistband. The gun was examined and found to have 13 rounds in the magazine but none in the chamber. The
weapon was cleared and secured and the suspect taken to the Perrysburg Police Department.
At that point Perrysburg Municipal Court Judge Dwight Osterud was contacted and set the $50,000 cash
bond.
Officers did locate the vehicle Gocaj used, a gray Ford Escape, on Interstate 75 within about a half-mile
of the Islamic Center. No other weapons were found in the vehicle.