COLUMBUS – Columbus police officers responding to a report of a suicidal man with a gun on the West Side Wednesday morning shot the man when he refused to drop the weapon, department officials said.
UPDATE 11/23/18 9:57 a.m. – Police say the officer who fired the shots in this incident has been identified as Ofc. Kenneth Bowers, a 21-year veteran of the Columbus Division of Police.
Officers were dispatched to a home in the 300 block of S. Yale Avenue at approximately 10:00 a.m. after police received a call from someone there who said a male family member was distraught, armed and threatening suicide, division spokeswoman Sgt. Chantay Boxill said.
The relative stayed on the line with the man while police were en route, encouraging him to put away his gun, Boxill said.
Within minutes of their arrival, Boxill says officers located Billy Heeter and a confrontation ensued, during which Heeter produced a gun and multiple shots were fired.
Heeter, 52, was taken to Grant Medical Center in critical condition and was pronounced deceased at 10:57 a.m., Boxill said.
No officers were injured.
A gun was recovered from the scene.
The investigation is ongoing.