Bodycam shows man shot by police in northeast Columbus after firing at officers
By: The Columbus Division of Police released body camera footage on Tuesday from a shooting involving police overnight on Saturday.
Officers responded to the 4000 block of East Dublin Granville Road just after 12:30 a.m. on Saturday to a report of a man shooting into a building, according to the Columbus Division of Police. When they got there, authorities found 39-year-old Mark Sharpe outside a business with a gun.
Jeff Simpson, the President of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital Lodge 9, said this is a situation no officer wants to be in.
“One of the officers who actually fired at the suspect says we need to advance because there was no other way,” said Simpson. “They had to take the fight to him because there are patrons inside that bar.”
Sharpe continued shooting at the building as police arrived and turned his gunshots toward the responding authorities. The released footage showed Officers Tamer Khadre, Evan Romine and Kenneth Sauer taking cover behind police cars and deliberating on how to approach the suspect.
Khadre was the first officer to confront the suspect when he walks out from between parked cars. Romine and Sauer are seen monitoring from a farther distance. Khade told the suspect to “put your hands up” and then immediately fired multiple times, the video showed.
The footage showed the suspect was struck on the left side of his stomach. Sharpe was given medical aid by police before being taken to the hospital in critical condition.
“That’s very hard to do when someone is trying to take your life for several minutes and to go up and render first aid,” said Simpson. “I mean, this suspect suffered significant wounds, and I’m not a doctor, but I will tell you, bet my badge, that if you talk to these doctors that it was through the actions of these officers that put on several tunicates to stop this person from bleeding that saved his life.”
Police said on Monday that Sharpe is now recovering from his injuries and will be charged with three counts of felonious assault. Romine has been with Columbus police for eight years, while Khadre and Sauer have been with the division for four each.
Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
“There’s not a doubt in my mind that they saved the life of the person that they had to shoot, they saved the life of probably that patrol, patrons inside,” Simpson said.