COLUMBUS – Columbus Zoo and Aquarium officials say there was no active shooter situation Friday afternoon after a confrontation between police and a motorist in a parking lot sparked rumors that sent visitors looking for shelter and running for exits.
Posts on the zoo’s Facebook page described visitors hiding in restrooms and under tables as at least one police officer pulled a weapon while chasing the motorist near the zoo’s Powell property.
Zoo officials said the fleeing suspect never entered the zoo.
“There was no active shooter situation at the zoo and there never was,” they said in a statement posted on social media accountr.
The incident began after a traffic accident on state Route 750 in front of the zoo, when the driver of a Jeep ignored the instructions of Shawnee Hills police officers who were directing traffic at the scene and drove into the zoo’s parking lot, zoo officials said.
When the driver ran away, one of the officers in pursuit pulled a weapon and another deployed a taser, but no guns were fired, zoo officials said.