COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — A Columbus police officer was shot in the Linden area on Wednesday evening, and the person who shot him was killed.
The shooting happened in the area of Hamilton Avenue near 16th Avenue at about 7:30 p.m.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation said the suspect was dead, but an identity was not immediately released.
“I just started hearing this rapid like pop, pop, pop,” one witness told ABC 6. “My dog started growling and running around like crazy. I looked out the door and they were flying down the street real fast. That’s when I turned the corner and the victims lying on the ground, and the police was coming out of nowhere.”
Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said officers tried to perform a traffic stop near Hamilton and Minnesota avenues at about 7:20 p.m.
“The vehicle fled the scene,” she said. “At 7:30, officers located the vehicle unoccupied. Approximately one minute later, officers located a male matching the description of the driver in the area of 16th Avenue and Hamilton Avenue. As officers were exiting the cruiser, the suspect produced a firearm and fired shots, striking an officer. Multiple officers returned fire, striking the suspect.”
Multiple officers were lined up outside Grant Medical Center, to where the suspect and the injured officer were rushed. Bryant said the suspect died at 8:23 p.m., but did not provide a condition for the officer, nor was the officer identified.
“There is no doubt in my mind … that this suspect meant to kill this officer,” Bryant said.
FOP President Brian Steel also spoke outside the hospital.
“When you walk in there, and you see officers crying, hugging each other, praying, it hits home,” he told reporters. “That is the reality. Everybody in this city has to understand that is the danger they face. If they pull the trigger and they’re wrong, well now they’re going to prison. If they delay in pulling the trigger, now they’re dead. Does that make sense? I’ve said it before, it’s the easiest job in the world to someone who’s never done it.”
Late Wednesday night, the injured officer was still in surgery, ABC 6’s Rodney Dunigan reported.
By Thursday morning at around 6:30 a.m., the officer was out of surgery, according to Steel.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation will lead the investigation, per protocol with all shootings involving officers.
