COLUMBUS – Police say it’s unclear why a man shot and killed three members of a West Side family, including a seven-year-old, and wounded a 12-year-old girl before he was shot by police
Officers responding to reported shooting at 98 South Terrace Avenue just after 5:00 p.m. confronted an armed man running from the house, police spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner said.
Three officers exchanged gunfire with Barry Kirk after a short chase and Kirk was shot several times. He later died at Mt. Carmel West Hospital, Weiner said.
After the shootout with Kirk, Weiner says the officers went inside the home and found John Anderson II, 31, his 30-year-old wife Christina Anderson and their son, seven-year-old Landon. All had been shot to death.
The family’s 12-year-old daughter, whose name was not released, is in critical condition at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Weiner says police don’t know if the shootings resulted from a home invasion or whether the family knew Kirk, who reportedly lived nearby.