Man fatally shot in Historic District, Columbus police say

A daylong dispute between two men turned deadly Monday afternoon when one of them was shot Monday afternoon outside of a residence on Third Avenue in the Historic District, Columbus police Maj. J.D. Hawk said.

The shooting happened around 3:20 p.m. outside 534 Third Ave., a house directly behind Little Joe's package store. The dead man was identified as Jermaine Williams, 26, according to the Muscogee County Chief Deputy Coroner Freeman Worley.

Williams was found suffering from a gunshot wound and was taken to Piedmont Columbus Regional's midtown campus where he was pronounced dead. He died of a gunshot wound to the upper left leg, the deputy coroner said.

"It appears it was some kind of disturbance between individuals who knew each other," Hawk said. "It was a disturbance that had been going on all day. ... One thing to understand, this is not a random shooting. The individuals knew each other."

Hawk did identify the victim or the suspect. He did say that one of them lived near the scene of the shooting and the other "was from a different part of Columbus."

"No one has been arrested at this time, but we will be searching for a suspect," Hawk said.

Williams lived on St. Mary's Road, Worley said.

Hawk would not release details about the dispute. The original crime scene was limited to the front of the house, but it quickly expanded to most of the 500 block of Third Avenue and down the south side of Sixth Street going toward Second Avenue. Hawk would not say what led to the expansion of the crime scene.

Officers and detectives were canvassing the neighbors for information.

The Columbus police homicide unit was investigating and about 5 p.m. there were more than two dozen officers and detectives on the scene. Police had Third Avenue between Sixth Street and Fifth Street closed.

This story was originally published June 18, 2018 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Man fatally shot in Historic District, Columbus police say."