A Columbus police officer was injured and a suspect was killed after gunfire broke out during an attempted traffic stop on April 29 in the Linden area.
Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said during a media briefing that officers tried to initiate a traffic stop at 7:19 p.m. near Hamilton and Minnesota avenues in North Linden, but the vehicle fled. She noted that she did not have details to share about the reason for the stop.
Officers later found the vehicle at around 7:30 p.m., Bryant said, but no one was inside. She did not specify the exact location where it was discovered, although police radio traffic suggested officers may have located a suspect vehicle in the 1100 block of East 18th Street in South Linden.
About a minute later, Bryant said officers located a man at East 16th Street and Hamilton Avenue who matched the description of the suspect from the attempted traffic stop. As the officers who identified him stepped out of their cruiser to confront him, the suspect opened fire on police with a firearm, she said.
One officer was hit. Bryant said multiple officers returned fire, striking and bringing the suspect down.
The injured male officer suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, according to police radio. Bryant said fellow officers transported him to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that, [from] what I know, that this suspect meant to kill this officer,” Bryant said. “And so, I’m very appreciative that the officers were able to get this officer here to this hospital.”
Bryant said she is asking for prayers for the wounded officer and the entire police division.
Bryant and Brian Steel said the wounded officer was rushed into surgery. Steel added that the officer’s family was at the hospital.
Police also transported the male suspect, who was injured by gunfire, to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead at 8:43 p.m., according to police dispatch confirmation to The Columbus Dispatch. Authorities had not released his identity, pending confirmation and notification of family members.
Support officers gathered outside the emergency department at Grant Medical Center downtown while the wounded officer remained in the operating room.
Brian Steel said during an earlier media briefing outside OhioHealth Grant Medical Center that it was unusual for both an injured officer and a wounded suspect to be taken to the same hospital.
Responding to reporters’ questions, Bryant later acknowledged during her briefing that it was “not an ideal situation” that the suspect was transported to the same hospital. She said the division will review its protocol in such cases.
OhioHealth Grant Medical Center was the nearest Level 1 trauma center. The suspect was also critically injured, and doctors there were ultimately unable to save him. Dispatch reported that his body was being guarded in the morgue.
“I am extremely very saddened by this incident, and I’m mad,” Bryant told the media. “I’m mad because our officers go out here every single day to serve and protect, and this incident is just a reminder of the dangers that officers face every single day.”
Brian Steel spoke in a similar tone during his earlier briefing, saying he is concerned about how the public perceives police and whether people understand the risks officers face on the job.
As is policy, Bryant said the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation will investigate the officer-involved shooting. Bryant asked anyone with information that would be helpful to that investigation to contact BCI at [email protected].
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