Two Mifflin Township police officers were shot during a traffic check, one gravely, and two Columbus cops were hurt while responding to the May 28 event in which their cruiser was involved in a traffic mishap.
The injured cops were transported to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center in downtown Columbus, where a strong contingent of Mifflin Township, Franklin County Sheriff’s, and Columbus police cruisers were stationed outside Grant’s trauma center.
According to Brian Steel, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9, one of the wounded cops is in serious condition and the other is stable.
Steel stated at a press conference outside the hospital hours later that the officer in critical condition is “fighting for his life.”
“The cops are sick of it, the community is sick of it — we have to get a control on crime,” Steel told reporters.
Steel said he knew one of the Mifflin Township policemen shot, as well as both of the Columbus police officers injured in the crash while responding to the shooting.
“It’s so hard to talk about this without getting emotional,” Steel told the crowd. “As cops, I don’t need to know you personally—I am you, and you are me. “We do the same exact job.”
In addition to Steel, Mifflin Township officers, and other law enforcement personnel who traveled to the hospital to check on the two officers, Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost paid visits.
Steel advised the suspect who was still at large to turn himself in or the police would find them, and whatever happened would be the suspect’s responsibility.
The gunshot occurred around 6:40 p.m. on Mecca Road and Perdue Avenue in Mifflin Township, north of Agler Road.
Sheriff Baldwin, whose office is leading the investigation into the incident, stated at a press conference just after 10:30 p.m. on May 28 that the two officers were conducting a traffic check when the passenger in the vehicle bailed and fled. He abruptly turned and shot at the officers, hitting them.
The suspect fled the scene to the north and northeast. The sheriff stated that the driver did not leave, has been completely cooperative, is not a suspect, and has been released.
Baldwin stated that investigators believe they know the identify of the alleged gunman but are waiting to confirm their findings before releasing it to the public. Baldwin described the suspect as a black male in his 30s wearing a gray hoodie and camouflage leggings.
Baldwin stated that the suspect is armed and dangerous, and requested anybody living near the traffic stop to phone 911 if they see someone matching that description.
Throughout the evening and night, police were examining a wooded area near Oakland Park Avenue and Perdue Avenue, where it dead ends to the north, as well as Park Court off Woodland Avenue, which is also close to the shooting scene.
K-9 units and a Columbus police helicopter assisted in the search for the culprit. FlightRadar24 reported that by 10 p.m., the helicopter was doing circles over and over the KIPP Columbus charter school campus area, which lasted for a half hour. That location is northeast of where the traffic stop shooting occurred.
The Columbus Police Helicopter Unit is outfitted with thermal imaging cameras that detect heat signatures from individuals at night.
At at 6:50 p.m., the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office dispatch phoned the Columbus police dispatch center directly, asking city help at the Mecca and Perdue shooting scene.
