'That was an ambush:' Columbus police release bodycam video of man shooting at officers

Columbus police Chief Elaine Bryant released body camera video Monday showing two Columbus police officers exchanging gunfire with a man who unexpectedly opened fire on them with a shotgun early Saturday, saying "that was an ambush."

Lamar Ivan Blue, 36, who has addresses on the Northeast Side and Far South Side, was critically injured in the exchange but is expected to recover from his injuries, police said.

No officers were injured in the incident, which occurred at 12:58 a.m. Saturday. Officers Garrin Stiltner and Payne Vantilburg, who both have been with the Columbus Division of Police for two years, responded to the 600 block of Kingsford Road on a report of shots fired.

It was the third time in seven hours police had been called to the address for a report of shots fired, Bryant said at a news conference Monday afternoon. Officers had found no evidence of shots being fired during their previous two visits and the 911 caller refused to be contacted, she said.

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[See Columbus police bodycam video of incident at dispatch.com.]

Footage from body cameras worn by Stiltner and Vantilburg show the officers driving north on Kingsford Road, slowing as they reach an apartment building. A man later identified as Blue can be seen walking down the apartment building's driveway toward the officers.

"What's going on, man?" Stiltner asks Blue as he gets out of the police vehicle. "Did you hear any gunshots or anything like that?"

Blue, his right hand behind his back, answers no.

Stiltner, shining his flashlight on Blue, asks him to take his hand out of his pocket.

Blue suddenly pulls what police say is a shotgun from behind his leg and opens fire, striking the police vehicle. Stiltner and Vantilburg take cover behind the vehicle and at least six shots can be heard in the video.

"Stay covered, stay covered," Stiltner says to Vantilburg.

Officers returned fire and Blue was hit at least once. While wounded he apparently ran from the officers, police said.

Blue was later found in the rear parking lot of an apartment complex across the street. Other responding officers, after determining it was safe to approach him, rendered medical aid to Blue before medics arrived.

"Officers provided life saving first aid until medics arrived,' Bryant said at the news conference. "The officers were sprinting, sometimes at far distances, to their cruisers to get their personal first aid equipment. The officers utilized a chest seal that they bought with their own money to save the life of Mr. Blue."

In addition to body camera footage, police also released a photograph of the vehicle they say Stiltner and Vantilburg responded to the call with. The passenger side door of the door is pockmarked with what looks like buckshot from a shotgun blast.

"For those of us that were there that night, this shotgun blast came perilously close to the officer on the passenger side of this car," said Deputy Chief Greg Bodker.

"This individual (Blue) as you saw, he didn't retreat," Bryant said. "He didn't back up. He didn't try to hide. He didn't go behind a bush and sit the gun down. He walked directly toward the officers. Directly toward them. In my mind, in my opinion, that was an ambush. That's the way I look at it. I feel that that was intentional and he was directing his anger or whatever rage he may have had toward our officers."

There is no indication Blue was behind the 911 calls, the chief said.

The incident early Saturday was the second in nine days that Columbus police officers had been shot at and struck a gunman with return fire, referring to an officer-involved shooting on Nov. 3 when another Columbus police officer with three years with the division shot a gunman in the dumpster area of a South Side restaurant.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating both shootings, as it does with any shooting involving Columbus police officers in which someone is injured or killed. Both Stiltner and Vantilburg are on paid administrative leave.

"That concerns us deeply," Bryant said of the two incidents in which police took gunfire. "It concerns us as a division but it should also concern the community. This cannot be OK. This cannot be OK with anyone that this is occurring."

Monroe Trombly covers breaking and trending news.

mtrombly@dispatch.com

@monroetrombly

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus police release video of gunman shooting