Police officer shot, Amazon shooting suspect dead in west Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A Columbus police officer was shot and a suspect killed in an incident on the west side of the city Sunday night tied to a shooting a short time before at an Amazon facility in West Jefferson.

According to a Columbus police dispatcher, the shooting happened near Georgesville Road and Clime Road North at approximately 6:08 p.m.

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Brian Steel, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9, said multiple officers fired at the suspect, killing him.

The officer was taken to Grant Medical Center in a stable condition.

“I sat down, I talked to the officer,” Steel said. “The officer’s doing good. By the grace of God, his bulletproof vest did its job and it (stopped) that bullet. You were talking half an inch to one side or the other side, we’re in a different story right now.”

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Steel added that other law enforcement departments were involved in the incident.

According to the police dispatch, the suspect is the same man involved in a shooting at an Amazon facility in West Jefferson. Steel said a plainclothes officer followed the suspect into Columbus, where officers from multiple departments closed in on the suspect when he got to a certain part of the city.

“When the officers confronted the violent criminal, he fired at them and they returned fire,” Steel said.

The man was taken to Doctors West Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:57 p.m., police said.

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According to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, multiple 911 calls were made reporting shots fired inside the Amazon building on the 6400 block of State Route 29 in West Jefferson at approximately 4:42 p.m.

The sheriff’s office said there are no reported injuries at the facility.

According to information provided by Amazon, all employees were sent home with pay Sunday evening and shifts at the facility were cancelled with employees receiving pay. In addition, counseling resources will be made available to anyone who needs them.

“We’re thankful that no one at our facility was injured during this incident and for the work of our team on the ground and first responders,” a statement by Amazon said. “As this is an active investigation, we’re cooperating with the West Jefferson Police Department and will defer further comment to them at this time.”

As with all police shootings, the Ohio Bureau of Investigation with the attorney general’s office has been called in to investigate the shooting, a BCI spokesperson said.

This is the second incident in which a suspect has been shot by a Columbus police officer in less than 24 hours. On Saturday, officers engaged in a “gun battle” with a domestic violence suspect, killing him. Police said the man killed a woman before encountering police.

“This is the second day in a row that our members have been under gunfire and it should be concerning… and we have to start asking questions ‘Why is this happening and how are we going to stop it,'” Steel said. “It is unacceptable to shoot and kill anybody and it is unacceptable to shoot and kill a police officer.”

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