Intruder killed, resident wounded, police say
GUN VIOLENCE
An intruder who entered a second-story window in a Near East Side house early Monday morning was shot and killed, Columbus police said.
“I don’t know who this guy is laying on my floor in my hallway,” Jacqueline Brown told a 911 dispatcher just after 1 a.m. as an alarm blared in the background.
A gun was near his feet, she said.
The man, who authorities said they were trying to identify on Monday, was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:17 a.m. He was the city’s 51st homicide this year.
“Somebody shot him. I don’t know who shot him,” Brown said, adding that at least one of her sons and her husband had guns.
Brown’s 28-year-old son, Dorian, also was shot. He was taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center in serious condition.
This was not the first time police have been called to the house in the 2200 block of Ridgeway Avenue. The house has been shot up on a couple of occasions.
On May 5, several bullets were collected inside and outside the house. On June 9, 2016, a bullet struck the house and three struck a car parked outside.
Brown’s son, 25-year-old William “BJ” Brown, was one of three people shot on June 8, 2016, at the Quick Stop Convenience Store, 2776 E. 5th Ave.
Tommie E. Brown, 26, was fatally shot at the convenience store. It’s unclear if he’s related to the Brown family.
Witnesses told police that 24-year-old Kris Pace and William Brown were fighting, according to Dispatch archives.
Police said Deanthoni Truss then shot Pace, William Brown and Tommie Brown. Truss was indicted on numerous charges, including aggravated murder, felonious assault and attempted murder. He is expected to go to trial next month.
“The word on the streets is they’re after BJ,” said a neighbor who declined to give her name out of fear. “We kind of figured with the trial coming up, it would get BJ silenced.”
William Brown was in the house on Ridgeway Avenue when the intruder was fatally shot on Monday. It’s unclear if the 2016 homicide and Monday’s fatal shooting are connected.
Anyone with information can call Columbus police homicide detectives at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-8477.