COLUMBUS, Ohio – A teenager is in the hospital after being shot by a Columbus SWAT officer during an alleged armed robbery on the East Side.
WSYX-TV (ABC6) is reporting that the 17 year-old suspect is in critical condition at Grant Medical Center.
The boy was one of five suspects confronted after holding up a store at gunpoint last night. The other four were arrested and charged with aggravated robbery.
The gang is suspected of pulling off a dozen robberies since Sept. 28, police spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner said.
Weiner says the SWAT officers were tailing the gang of three teens and two adults, who were already suspected in several robberies, to the corner of Astor Avenue and Kellner Road where the suspects got out of their car and walked into the Family Dollar store on S. James Road and robbed the employees at gunpoint.
The group ran from the store back to their car, where they were met by SWAT officers and one of the teen was shot multiple times by Ofc. John Holloway, a 22-year veteran of the police division, as the suspect got out of the car with a handgun, Weiner says.
Weiner says the other suspects remained in the vehicle and were taken into custody without further incident.
The suspects have been identified as three males — Marquan Watkins, Makevelli Mock and Laquez Johnson, all 17; Kayron Watkins, 23 — and one woman, Lakisha Watkins, 30, Weiner said.
The wounded suspect was taken to Grant Medical Center in critical condition.
One handgun was found inside the vehicle, another was taken from the area of the wounded suspect and items from the robbery were also located inside the vehicle, Weiner said.
Weiner said all five suspects have been charged with aggravated robbery. Their identities are being withheld pending further investigation of other robberies, he said.
As in all police-involved shootings, the involved officers will receive mandated psychological support counseling and the incident will be investigated by the Critical Incident Response Team. The final investigative package will be forwarded to the Division of Police chain of command for review, Weiner said.
-This story has been edited to correct the name of the store based upon updated information from the Columbus Div. of Police.