It was just after 1 a.m. Friday when a Columbus woman living in a neighborhood off of 14th Avenue was awakened by her granddaughter to make sure she was OK.
The woman, who spoke to The Dispatch later that day but asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, was told there had been a shooting just behind her house. When she looked outside, she couldn’t even count the number of police vehicles on Railroad Street just beyond the backdoor.
Now, she feels like she can’t sit on her front porch anymore.
“It concerns me because I used to be sitting out here on this porch, but now I sit in the house,” she said. “There’s just so much traffic, and people are so evil these days.”
A Columbus police officer was injured early Friday morning while on patrol when a bullet shattered his front windshield and back glass of his patrol car and glass flew into his eye. The incident occurred on Railroad Street near the intersection of 14th Avenue North, less than half a mile south of the closed Huddle House.
Public Information Officer Joe Dillon said the officer, whose identity has not been released, was sitting in his car at the intersection at about 12:59 a.m. when a tan pickup and black sedan speeding south on Bluecutt Extension approached where the road turns into Railroad. The occupants fired several shots as they approached the police car.
“We don’t know if they were shooting at one another or our officer, but it doesn’t matter,” Police Chief Joseph Daughtry said in a press release. “Their actions put innocent persons at risk.”
The officer reported the shots fired and other units responded to the scene, Daughtry said. The officer was checked at the scene and went home with only slight injuries to his eye. He was not hospitalized.
“Fortunately, he was not hurt,” Daughtry said in an interview Friday afternoon. “He did try to give chase to try to catch the individual. But he wasn’t able to see. So he pulled (his vehicle) over and stopped it, which I think he did the right thing. And when everybody else got there, we made sure that he was OK and we started processing the scene.”
No arrests have been made, and Daughtry said investigators are seeking video surveillance from the area to help identify and locate the suspects.
Anyone with information on the case can contact Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers at (800) 530-7151 or leave a tip via the P3 app. All tips are anonymous and Crime Stoppers may offer a cash reward.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
