SWAT team shoots overnight homicide suspect in Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The suspect in a deadly overnight car burglary was shot Wednesday by Columbus SWAT officers at a north Columbus apartment complex.
The shooting happened at 3:14 p.m. on the 6000 block of Cooper Colony Drive, dispatchers told NBC4. According to police at the scene, the suspect shot by SWAT team members was the same 16-year-old male who tried to break into vehicles just past midnight at the Hyde Park Townhomes. When 39-year-old Alejandro Lopez-Lechuga confronted the suspect as he tried to break into Lopez-Lechuga's car, investigators said the 16-year-old shot him. Lopez-Lechuga was pronounced dead within the hour at an area hospital.
After being shot by SWAT team members Wednesday afternoon, the suspect was also hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. Columbus Police Sgt. James Fuqua said multiple officers fired their weapons in the incident.
Columbus Police Sgt. Joe Albert said the incident began as a traffic stop on Cooper Colony Drive. The suspect fled the vehicle with a rifle in his hand, which led to officers opening fire.
A spokesperson with the Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation said the agency is responding to the incident, something normally done with shootings involving police officers. Columbus Division of Police Chief Elaine Bryant and Assistant Chief LaShanna Potts have both been spotted at the scene as well.
Columbus police and BCI remained on the scene as of 6 p.m.
"Extremely dangerous situation overall, right, and that's why our SWAT officers are trained in situations like this, right?" Albert said. "But that explains the importance of getting this individual off the street. We couldn't just watch him more, let him get out of his vehicle with the rifle in his possession and just walked on the sidewalk. Our officers had to do what they, what they did to ensure that everybody was safe."
Police said the suspect has been charged with murder, with more charges possible.