Columbus cop on leave after shooting at car, wounding people inside stolen vehicle
A Columbus police officer is on administrative leave after he shot at a suspected car thief and wounded two people inside the vehicle Monday night, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the city’s police department.
According to the GBI, Columbus police received a call around 5:15 p.m. from a man who said he saw his sister’s vehicle that was stolen a few days before. The man followed the car to Riverwind Apartments.
Two officers responded to the apartment complex and parked their cars in front of the stolen vehicle. As the officers approached, the driver accelerated towards one of the officers, and the unidentified male officer fired his handgun. Police were unaware if any of the vehicle’s occupants were wounded at that time, the GBI said.
The abandoned car was later found by police at Thornton Drive and Lumpkin Court. Hours later, three people arrived at Piedmont Columbus Regional Hospital. Two of them were wounded. One person had a gunshot wound in the shoulder, and the other was shot in the arm, the GBI said
Video from the area where the car was abandoned appears to show the same three people fleeing from the vehicle. Charges from Columbus police against the three people linked to the stolen car are pending, the GBI said.
The GBI will conduct an independent investigation. Following the investigation, the case file will be provided to the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review, the GBI said.
The officer was placed on administrative leave, and the Columbus Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards will conduct an administrative investigation into the shooting as well, the department said.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation may contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Region 2 Field Office at (706) 565-7888. Tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
This story was originally published February 7, 2022 at 10:04 PM.