Suspect sought in police ‘ambush’
Central Ohio Crime Stoppers and the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9 are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of an unknown suspect who fired nine to 10 shots at a Columbus police officer Nov. 22 in South Linden.
Lodge President Jason Pappas said Tuesday that the reward will be available for 30 days — through Jan. 19 — for information leading to an arrest and indictment of one or more suspects who shot at Columbus Police Officer Phillip Stevens.
“As we sit here today, the person responsible for attempting to murder one of my Columbus police officers is still at large,” Pappas said during a news conference at the FOP union hall. “This is unacceptable for this to occur in our neighborhood.”
Pappas said Tuesday afternoon that 27 police officers have been killed by firearms nationally in 2017, three in ambushstyle attacks. Pappas called
the attack on Stevens in November an “ambush.”
Stevens was standing at the front passenger-side window of a Kia Soul stopped in South Linden when gunfire first sounded.
The first shot was quickly followed by several others before the bombardment from an unknown person who ran between houses ended.
Stevens hit the deck unharmed and crawled to safety behind the stopped vehicle, according to video of the incident that was viewed by The Dispatch.
Two other officers who were there as backup approached with guns drawn. But the shooter eluded officers searching the area.
None of the officers, nor the driver or passenger in the Kia, were struck.
Shell casings recovered at the scene matched those from another shooting that had occurred nearly four hours earlier on the Near East Side, near East Main Street and Berkeley Road. A man and woman suffered minor injuries after a gunman in a car fired on them. Police were investigating a suspected carjacking before the shots were fired at Stevens.
“We know you are tired of the crime in your neighborhood,” said Kristen McKinley, president of Central Ohio Crime Stoppers. “That crime extends to shooting at police officers as well. We want you to assist us in stopping this, in stopping the crime in your neighborhood.”
All tips to Central Ohio Crime Stoppers can be made anonymously, by phone at 614-461-8477, online at stopcrime.org or through its new phone app.