COLUMBUS – Columbus police are investigating what caused a man to shoot his girlfriend to death and turn the gun on himself as police closed in on him Friday morning.
Officers responding to a report of a woman being shot outside a home on Silver Oak Drive on the Southeast Side at 10:10 a.m. and found a woman later identified as Classie Mixon, 32, suffering from several gunshot wounds, police division spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
As the officers arrived, one of them saw Keith Marshal, fleeing the area in a pickup truck, Weiner said.
Marshall, 28, led officers on a brief pursuit to the area of 6250 Lowridge Drive where he got out of the pickup with a gun in his hand, Weiner said.
Officer Kimberly Wilkinson, an 18-year veteran of the division, fired at Marshall and missed, Weiner said.
After running for a short distance, Marshall shot himself once. He was taken to Grant Medical Center where he was listed in critical condition, said Weiner.
Weiner says two young children were found unharmed in the pickup.
A firearm was recovered at the scene.
Charges against Keith Marshall are pending further investigation.
It was the second time that morning that police had gone to the Silver Oak Drive address, having responded about one hour earlier to a disturbance call, Weiner said.
Marshall and Mixon were cooperative and Marshall agreed to leave the residence voluntarily, Weiner said.
Mixon told the officers they could leave while Marshall gathered some items and Weiner says they had left and were in the process of completing their report on the incident when the shooting call was dispatched.