COLUMBUS – The actions of two Columbus police officers in a shooting incident last summer have been upheld by a departmental review.
The investigation by the Division of Police Firearms/Police-Involved Death Review Board determined that Officers Samuel James and Marc Johnson operated within the division’s use-of-force policy on July 7, when they shot Kareem Ali Nadir Jones, division spokesman Sgt. Dean Worthington said
Officers patrolling the area of 84 Schultz Avenue in Franklinton on a rainy afternoon encountered Jones, walking between cars exhibiting erratic behavior. They got out of their cruiser and when a brief conversation escalated into a confrontation, Worthington says the officers felt threatened and asked Jones repeatedly to get on the ground.
Witnesses say Jones did not follow the officers’ commands and both officers fired shots. A gun was recovered at the scene.
Jones, 30, was taken to Mount Carmel West Hospital in life-threatening condition. No other injuries were reported.
The incident began when a woman living on Schultz Avenue told detectives that three kids were throwing rocks at her car. She went next door to her sister’s duplex and Jones, the sister’s boyfriend, walked the neighborhood looking for the kids and was headed back to the duplex when James and Johnson came in contact with him.