Columbus police ID officers who shot man outside Northeast Side bar

The names of the three Columbus police officers who reportedly exchanged gunfire with a 39-year-old man in the early hours of Saturday morning on the city’s Northeast Side – critically wounding him in the process – have been released by the division.

Additionally, the Columbus Division of Police identified Pataskala resident Mark A. Sharpe as the man they say first opened fire at officers when they arrived outside a Westerville bar and restaurant in the 4000 block of East Dublin Granville Road.

Sharpe, who is expected to survive his injuries, has since been charged with three counts of felonious assault.

A probable cause affidavit filed in Franklin County Municipal Court identifies the address of the shooting as that of Joe’s Pub & Grill, 4949 East Dublin Granville Road.

According Columbus police, Officers Evan Romine, Tamer Khadre and Kenneth Sauer responded just after 12:30 a.m. Saturday to the pub west of Hamilton Road after several callers reported an armed man in the parking lot was firing shots into the business.

Romine has been a police officer with the Columbus division for eight years, while Khadre and Sauer have been with the division for four years. All three are assigned to the sixth precinct, which covers Westerville.

When the three officers found the man with a gun, police said he began shooting toward them. The officers fired back at Sharpe, striking him. Nobody else was injured, and police reported recovering a gun at the scene.

Officers gave Sharpe medical aid until medics arrived and transported him to Mount Carmel East hospital in critical condition, police have said. In a news release Monday, police now say Sharpe’s status has been upgraded as his injuries no longer appear to be lifethreatening.

No one from Joe’s Pub & Grill was available for comment immediately.

The Dispatch has filed a formal public records request for the 911 calls and the police body camera footage stemming from the shooting.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is handling the investigation into the shooting and the circumstances that led to it, which is standard procedure anytime a Columbus Division of Police officer discharges a weapon. elagatta@dispatch.com @Ericlagatta