Suspect dies after firefight with Franklin County deputy, Columbus police on East Side

Bethany Bruner and Nathaniel Shuda, The Columbus Dispatch
Updated ·2 min read
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July 8, 2023; Columbus, Oh., USA; A police officer is seen investigating an apartment building at 3110 East Livingston Avenue after a shooting involving at least one Columbus police officer and one Franklin County Sheriff's deputy Saturday evening left one person dead. The shooting happened around 8 p.m. in the 3000 and 3100 blocks of East Livingston Avenue, near James Road.

A man has died after a shooting involving multiple Columbus police officers and at least one Franklin County Sheriff's deputy Saturday evening on the city's East Side.

The shooting happened around 8 p.m. in the 3000 and 3100 blocks of East Livingston Avenue, near James Road.

A sheriff's deputy was working special duty at Walgreens, 3015 E. Livingston Ave., when a man came into the store, saying another man was outside with a gun and shot at him, Chief Deputy Jim Gilbert said. The deputy went outside, more shots were fired and a chase began. The deputy then called for help, to which Columbus police and other deputies responded.

The deputy was wearing a body camera, Gilbert said.

Columbus police responded about 7:55 p.m. to a report of someone shooting at a deputy, Deputy Chief Tim Myers said. Officers were working to clear an apartment building into which the suspect ran at the Bexley Commons complex, 3090 E. Livingston Ave., when at 8:03 p.m. multiple officers reported firing shots.

The suspect was taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where he died about 8:25 p.m., Myers said. Police found a firearm at the scene.

"An assault on an officer isn't just an assault on a person; it's an assault on the rule of law," he said.

As of about 9:20 p.m., at least eight police cruisers were at the scene, and part of East Livingston Avenue was closed between James and South Hampton roads.

Just after 10 p.m., Brian Steel, a Columbus police officer and executive vice president of Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9, addressed news media at the scene:

"Bad things happen when you try to confront the police with a weapon," Steel said, without directly addressing specifics of the latest shooting involving police. "We're quickly turning into the city that never sleeps."

The shooting happened about three hours after federal officials announced the arrest of two suspects in a Thursday crime spree and shootout that left a Columbus police officer injured.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation will be leading the investigation into the shooting. The name of the person who was killed has not yet been released.

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner

nshuda@dispatch.com

@nathanielshuda

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Suspect dies after firefight with Franklin Co. deputy, Columbus police