Video Shows Shootout Between Police, Gunman On I-71 In Columbus

COLUMBUS, OH — New video shows a shootout between police and a handgun-wielding man Friday morning on Interstate 71 in Columbus that caused part of the freeway to close for hours.

More than a dozen police units swarmed I-71 around 10 a.m. Friday in the city's Polaris neighborhood Friday morning for what police called an “active shooter” situation. Officers were called for a gun-wielding man standing on the freeway who was shooting at vehicles.

Police learned a woman might have been with the man as he was shooting, possibly indicating it was a domestic violence situation.

"We're not exactly sure why the suspect possessed a firearm, but we can confirm the suspect did in fact have a firearm and was firing off shots at cars that were passing through I-71 northbound," a police spokesman said.

Officers arrived and exchanged gunfire with the shooter, who was standing outside a vehicle on the side of the freeway, a police spokesman told reporters. It wasn't immediately known how many shots were fired.

No officers were seriously hurt. One officer was taken to a hospital as a precautionary measure. The suspect was critically wounded and taken to a hospital, police said. No. passerby were hurt. Multiple cars sustained significant damage prior to police arriving.

Video obtained by WBNS showed a man on the freeway shoot at arriving police vehicles, then turn and run before exchanging gunfire with officers.

The woman who was near the shooter was not hurt.

The northbound lanes of I-71 were closed at Interstate 270 and the southbound lanes of the interstate were reduced to a single lane at Gemini Place. Drivers were told to avoid the area.

Jeff Simpson, executive vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9, told WSYX a woman told police someone shot at her on the freeway.

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