COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus Division of Police officers fired shots at a man accused of firing a rifle in a neighborhood on the city’s south side early Saturday morning.
Just before 5:40 a.m., officers were in the area of Watkins Road and Bluefield Drive near Watkins Elementary School when they heard several gunshots.
While searching the area, police say the officers spotted an SUV driving at a high rate of speed. The officers then initiated a traffic stop in the 1300 block of Moundview Avenue.
Police say the passenger, identified as 21-year-old Franklin Osmin Chinchilla Hernandez, exited the vehicle with a rifle. The officers fired shots at Hernandez but missed.
Officers later found Hernandez hiding in several bushes nearby and arrested him.
The driver of the vehicle was interviewed by police and later released.
Police found rifle shell casings in the 1500 block of Southfield Drive South. According to records from Franklin County Municipal Court, Hernandez admitted to firing the rifle. He also said that he ran from the officers because he was “drunk and scared.”
Police found an AR-15 next to the suspect, court records show.
Court records also state that Hernandez discharged the rifle while four people were in the area and became alarmed.
Hernandez is charged with the discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises, a third-degree felony. He is currently being held in the Franklin County Correction Center.
Police have identified the officers involved in the shooting as Alfred Blevins and Luke Stickle, both two-year veterans with the police department and are assigned to patrol Zone 2.