COLUMBUS, Ohio — A man has been charged with kidnapping after getting into a woman’s car and pointing a gun at her while her 6-year-old child was in the backseat in east Columbus.
Court documents say a woman was leaving a residence in the area of East Livingston Avenue and Barnett Road when a man, identified as 29-year-old Marquise Artis, got into the car. Artis pointed a semi-automatic pistol at her and demanded she drives him wherever he wanted.
Artis became angry over messages in the woman’s phone and struck her in the side of the head while she was driving, court records say.
The woman grabbed the gun from Artis’ lap and told her child to get out of the car while sitting at a traffic light at East Livingston Avenue and Alum Creek Drive. The woman told police Artis tried to reach into the backseat where the child was and she started firing the weapon as she got out of the car.
Around the time of the shots being fired, officers heard the commotion and tried to intervene. Artis then jumped into the driver’s seat and fled from the scene.
Additional responding officers spotted the vehicle and pursued it more than two miles to the area of Parsons Avenue and East Kossuth Street.
Columbus Police Sgt. Rich Weiner said the officers approached the car in an attempt to take Artis into custody. An altercation between officers and Artis resulted in one officer firing his weapon.
Artis then drove off again to the 800 block of Ann Street where he got out of the vehicle and fled on foot, Weiner said.
Officers found the vehicle and followed a trail of blood which led them to a residence on Ann Street. Artis was found inside with an apparent gunshot wound.
The man was taken to Grant Medical Center. Weiner described the man's condition as stable. He is still in the hospital and will be taken to jail when he is released.
After police originally told 10TV the man was shot by officers, Weiner said in a briefing it was unclear if the man was injured in the initial shooting scene or during the altercation with officers.
Weiner said a gun was found near the first scene but it is unclear to whom it belongs. He added detectives are investigating who fired the weapon in the first shooting.
Dispatchers initially told 10TV a shooting victim was found near Alum Creek Drive and East Livingston Avenue but now it is unclear if anyone was shot at that scene.
Police said in a release that a woman and a small child were not injured during the shooting that happened on Alum Creek Drive and East Livingston Avenue.
Artis has been charged with kidnapping, according to police.
The Special Victims Bureau will investigate the shooting at Alum Creek Drive and East Livingston Avenue and the shooting involving the officer at Parsons Avenue and East Kossuth Street will be investigated by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
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