COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus police officer who was shot in the leg during a shootout on Interstate 70 earlier this month has been released from Grant Medical Center.
The officer, whose identity has not been revealed due to Marsy's Law, has been in the hospital since the incident on July 6. He arrived at the hospital in critical condition and was quickly taken into surgery.
Columbus Police Assistant Chief Gregory Bodker said the injured officer is a patrolman on the west side of the city.
He referred to the officers involved as heroes during an earlier press conference.
"The officers put themselves in between violent felons and innocent people that were merely on the freeway."
Bodker said the injured officer’s partner immediately rushed him to Grant Medical Center after he was shot. He was in critical condition.
"His life was saved by his partners in patrol that got him here quickly,” Bodker said. "The doctors and staff at Grant hospital, they perform miracles here and they did that yesterday."
Fraternal Order of Police Vice President Brian Steel said officers from other agencies jumped into action offering their support once they heard about what happened.
Steel said the injured officer is a former marine.
"Although a new officer, it's my understanding when this happened, he knew exactly what to do,” Steel said.
Steel said they’re now doing what they can to take care of the officer’s wife and family during this time.
The officer was shot and a suspect was killed during a shootout on I-70. Leading up to the shootout, armed suspects were able to steal a Porsche from a dealership in Whitehall and rob a bank in west Columbus near Hilliard.
After searching for several hours, one suspect, 23-year-old Faisal Darod, was arrested around 1:30 a.m. on Friday in North Linden. The second suspect, 20-year-old Aden Abdullahi Jama, was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals on Saturday while he was trying to board a flight to Turkey at a Chicago airport.