COLUMBUS – A Columbus murder suspect surrendered to police and federal marshals after a standoff that shut down a major freeway on the Far North Side for part of the Thursday morning commute.
Columbus police officers assisted U.S. Marshals in an effort to serve a murder warrant on Deanthoni Truss, who had been charged in connection with the death of Tommie Brown, who was killed in a shooting at a convenience store on E. 4th Avenue on June 8, Columbus police spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner said.
Truss was reportedly staying in a room on the second floor of the Sheraton Suites hotel on Hutchinson Avenue, near the U.S.23/I-270 interchange on the Far North Side where authorities tried to arrest him shortly after 7:00 a.m.
Guests who were evacuated from the hotel reported hearing gunshots and there have been unconfirmed reports that Truss and police exchanged gunfire. A witness reported seeing several bullet holes in a window on the hotel’s south side, which faced I-270. The westbound lanes of the freeway were closed between I-71 and U.S. 23 for several hours during the incident.
Truss held Columbus and Franklin Count SWAT officers and other personnel at bay until he was taken into custody at approximately 10:25 a.m. and was taken to the Franklin County Jail.
No one was hurt during the incident, Weiner said.
Weiner says the murder charge arose out of a triple shooting which took place during a fight involving four people broke out outside the Quick Stop Convenience Store, 2776 E. 5th Avenue, on the morning of June 8.
Brown, 21, was shot repeatedly and died at Grant Medical Center and two other men were injured during the shooting. Truss has so far been charged only with Brown’s death, Weiner said.