Man killed in W. Virginia shootout had Columbus ties
Police and the FBI are investigating whether a man with Columbus ties killed Sunday in a shootout with sheriff’s deputies in West Virginia was involved in a bank robbery Thursday in northeastern Ohio.
Authorities say the man — whose identity hasn’t been released by authorities — and three Stark County residents were in a car stolen from Columbus in an armed carjacking when sheriff’s deputies in Harrison County, West Virginia, tried to stop the car just before 6 a.m. Sunday on Interstate 79.
The driver fled, starting a high-speed pursuit. The car left the interstate, followed a state highway into West Milford, and then started driving along back roads in the area, said Lt. R.G. Waybright of the Harrison County sheriff’s office. Eventually the vehicle crashed into a ditch in a yard off a dirt road, he said.
Deputies lost track of the vehicle during the chase and didn’t see the crash, Waybright said. According to reports, officials found two guns and ammunition in the abandoned, crashed car.
The foursome apparently walked to a retail store in West Milford. Surveillance footage shows that JoBraelyn A. Bunn, 20, and Jada Hilton, 18, both of Canton, and Jacob Hunter, 18, of Massillon, went inside the store, Waybright said.
The man with Columbus ties waited outside, Waybright said, and was spotted by deputies shortly after 7 a.m. Sunday. According to The Exponent Telegram newspaper, the man was seen walking on a bridge. When confronted by deputies the man fired and two deputies returned fire, mortally wounding the suspect. He was taken to United Hospital Center, where he later died.
Authorities launched a search for Bunn, Hilton and Hunter. Waybright said they were apprehended about 4:30 p.m. Sunday after they were found hiding in a shed and tried to run. None of them had weapons when they were arrested, he said..
A spokeswoman said the FBI planned to talk with the trio to find out what they know about Thursday morning’s armed robbery of the PNC Bank branch in Massillon.
The suspect killed in the shooting is believed to have stolen the car in an armed carjacking at 8:54 p.m. Saturday on Columbus’ Far North Side, said Columbus police detective Brett Laird, who investigates robberies. The owner was walking to his apartment from his car in the 8300 block of Falling Water Lane when a man brandishing a silver handgun approached and robbed him. The man’s car was stolen.