COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus police SWAT officers attempting to serve a warrant in Grove City fatally shot a man in a shopping center parking lot Saturday night.
Earlier in the same week, an officer shot a man who ran away from a traffic stop in southeast Columbus.
While the public still has questions about what led to the shooting in Grove City, Jim Scanlon of the North American SWAT Training Association offered insight into the training SWAT teams go through when serving arrest warrants.
“[Officers] get specialized training, they have normally a game plan and they’ve discussed their plans on how they’re going to do it. They know how to do a vehicle takedown with plane vehicles,” he said.
Scanlon says SWAT officers undergo an elevated level of training to serve high-risk felony arrest warrants of a violent nature, like rape. He adds that the mission is to get the suspect to comply and get them off the streets.
“The officers learn how to navigate with plain clothes and plain cars, how to follow. There’s training and how you surveil somebody. SWAT has a higher firearm standard than normal officers,” Scanlon said.
SWAT officers will serve the warrant to arrest suspects wherever they find them, whether it’s on city streets or in parking lots.
“Ultimately, the suspect decides how it’s going to end by virtue of how they respond to the commands and whether or not they comply,” Scanlon said.
He says officers always aim to keep civilians out of harm’s way.
“If the suspect puts that officer in fear for their life, of the life of a mother is jeopardizing the officer’s lives or the life of civilians in the area, then that officer ultimately makes that decision on how to react to that threat,” Scanlon explained on how an officer is trained to shoot.
SWAT teams work to remove dangers to the public on a daily basis, but Scanlon says most civilians are unaware of these takedowns because they are not violent and in plain clothes.
“Rarely do they turn into a situation where the use of deadly force is necessary,” he said.
No other injuries were reported in Saturday night’s shooting. The Ohio Bureau of Crime Investigation is handling the investigation.