Police: Far East Side man suspected in killing
Columbus police are looking for a 23-year-old man who is suspected of fatally shooting another man Saturday night on the Far East Side after the two had been arguing.
Brian K. Smith, a resident of the Mcnaughten Commons condominiums where the shooting took place, is wanted by police on a charge of murder. Police planned to file an arrest warrant Sunday through Franklin County Municipal Court.
Smith is suspected of fatally shooting 46-year-old Rodney A. Brown around 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the 6100 block of Stornaway Drive South, east of Mcnaughten Road. Officers dispatched to the scene found a mortally wounded Brown on a sidewalk in the rear of the address. Medics pronounced him dead at the scene, police said.
Witnesses told police that Smith and Brown had been arguing before the confrontation took a deadly turn.
Columbus police are also investigating at least three non-fatal shootings that occurred in the early morning hours Sunday.
Around 2:30 a.m. Sunday, police were called to Mount Carmel Reynoldsburg emergency room to speak to a walk-in shooting victim. The 39-yearold man told police that less than an hour earlier, he was shot in his left arm and left rib cage while pumping gas at a gas station in the area of Hall and Norton roads on the Far West Side — some 23 miles away from the emergency room. The man, who is expected to fully recover, told police that he did not know where the gunshots came from.
Shortly before 3 a.m., patrol officers reported hearing and responding to several shots in the area of East 4th Avenue and North High Street in the Short North.
The officers found four shell casings in the 1100 block of North High Street south of 5th Avenue, and spoke to a man who said he was a victim in the shooting, though he was not hit by gunfire. The man told police that his brother had been jumped by younger male suspects, prompting him to attempt to break up the fight.
One of the suspects pulled out a gun, as did the reported victim, who police said has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. The victim told police he pulled out his gun but did not fire. The suspect shot at him multiple times before the group fled the area, he told police.
Around 5:30 a.m. Sunday, a 41-yearold man riding his bike on Thurman Avenue two blocks southeast of Schiller Park in German Village was hit in the knee by a bullet in what he told police was a drive-by shooting. The suspect, who was driving a black sports utility vehicle, fled the scene, police said.
Anyone with information on Smith’s whereabouts can call the Columbus Division of Police homicide unit at 614645-4730. Anyone with information on the non-fatal shootings can call the felony assault unit at 614-645-6818.
Anonymous tips can be reported to the Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614461-8477.
Eric Lagatta is a reporter at the Columbus Dispatch covering public safety, breaking news and social justice issues. Reach him at elagatta@dispatch.com. Follow him on Twitter @Ericlagatta