Columbus man dies after being shot on Uber ride, authorities say

Columbus recorded another homicide Thursday when a 26-year-old man fatally was shot, reportedly while on an Uber ride, authorities said.

Vamonte Lequan Gray was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound at Piedmont Columbus Regional at 2:10 a.m., said Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan.

Police said they were called to a person shot in the 400 block of 20th Avenue at 1:58 a.m., where they found Gray wounded. Gray had been riding in a vehicle near Wickham Drive and Tennant Avenue when several shots were fired, they said.

Bryan said his reports indicate Gray had been on an Uber ride, an independent car service offered online, with drivers using their own private vehicles.

Anyone with information on Gray’s shooting is asked to contact Cpl. Matt Sitler at 706-225-4356 or MSitler@columbusga.org.

Gray’s death marks Columbus’ 41st homicide so far this year, tying the 2019 total. The city had 34 in 2018; 44 in 2017; and 28 in 2016, records show.

This story was originally published November 19, 2020 at 10:23 AM.

Tim Chitwood

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

706-571-8508

Tim Chitwood is from Seale, Alabama, and started as a police beat reporter with the Ledger-Enquirer in 1982. He since has covered Columbus’ serial killings and other homicides, following some from the scene of the crime to trial verdicts and ensuing appeals. He also has been a Ledger-Enquirer humor columnist since 1987. He’s a graduate of Auburn University, and started out working for the weekly Phenix Citizen in Phenix City, Ala.