COLUMBUS – Police believe a man shot to death during a holdup at a Franklinton convenience store early Sunday was also responsible for other robberies.
At 12:26 a.m., police say Courdney Sims walked into the UDF store at 1043 W. Broad Street, brandishing a silver handgun, walked behind the counter and took cash from multiple registers before leaving.
As he was walking southbound toward an alley Sims, 25, was shot by someone in the parking lot, said Sgt. Jeff Strayer of the Homicide Unit.
The unidentified gunman left the scene police arrived
Sims, who died At Mt. Carmel West Hospital later Sunday morning, is a person of interest in numerous other local robberies, Strayer said.
Strayer says police do not know what confrontation happened outside the store or what led to the shooting but are asking that the shooter “come forward with his side of the story.”
This is the 67th homicide of the year in Columbus and, although the shooting took place earlier, Sims died after the victim of Homicide No. 66, a man shot to death on an East Side sidewalk at approximately 3:51 a.m., Strayer said.
Officers called to the area of 1390 E. Main Street on the report of a shooting found Michael Marshall, 30, lying on the sidewalk suffering from gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Anyone with information regarding either incident is asked to call the Columbus Police Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS.