Man critically wounded by police

A man looking for kids who had thrown rocks at a car was critically wounded after a confrontation with officers late Friday afternoon on the West Side, Columbus police said.

The incident — the second officer-involved shooting this week — began when a woman who lives on Schultz Avenue just off West Broad Street saw three kids throwing rocks at her car, said Denise Alex-Bouzounis, a spokeswoman for Columbus police.

Upset and unsure of what to do, the woman went next door to tell her sister, whose boyfriend then left to try to find the kids, Alex-Bouzounis said.

The boyfriend, Kareem Ali Nadir Jones, 30, was walking up and down the block in search of the kids when patrol officers in a passing car noticed him.

Police said Jones was acting erratically and walking between cars when they asked him what was wrong. Feeling threatened, the officers told Jones to put his hands up and get on the ground, she said.

Witnesses reported they heard police give their commands multiple times, but Jones did not comply.

Both officers fired multiple shots at Jones, who was taken to Mount Carmel West hospital in critical condition, Alex-Bouzounis said.

A gun was found next to where Jones went down, but she could not say whether it played a role in the officers feeling threatened.

No officers were injured. The officers involved were wearing body cameras, she said.

Alex-Bouzounis said the identities of the officers involved would be released Saturday.

The rock-throwing kids were never found.

On Wednesday, an officer twice shot a knife-wielding man in a domestic incident at a Northeast Side apartment complex after attempts to Taser him failed.