COLUMBUS – A suspect in a burglary at a gun store was shot while trying to flee from a federal agent on the East Side Thursday afternoon.
The man was taken to Grant Medical Center, and is expected to survive, Columbus police spokesman Sgt. James Fuqua said.
Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms investigating the burglary of a central Ohio gun shop identified a person of interest in a Chevy Impala, which was pulled over by a marked Columbus police cruiser just after 3:30 p.m., Fuqua said.
The suspect fled the stop in his vehicle and drove the wrong way down a one-way street where his path was impeded by ATF agents driving the opposite way and stopped near the intersection of Kelton Avenue and E. Fulton Street, Fuqua said.
The driver got out of his vehicle and fought with an agent who shot the suspect. A firearm was recovered at the scene near the driver.
Fuqua says, because it happened within the city of Columbus but did not involve a Columbus officer, the shooting is being investigated by the Columbus Police Critical Incident Response Team, which formerly investigated all officer-involved shootings.
Under an agreement reached earlier this year, any police involved shooting by a Columbus officer would be investigated by outside investigators with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.