An innocent bystander and a suspect were recovering at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center on Monday after being shot by police.
Heather Garrett was shot shortly after midnight Saturday near North Front and Vine streets.
Garrett, 29, was struck in the back while officers were trying to stop a man who allegedly was driving while drunk and tried to strike police with a vehicle.
Police said that they received reports that a man, identified as Douglas Wiegand, was intoxicated and tried to get in a vehicle.
“A little bit later, that is when the officer gets flagged down and someone says there is a guy who might be intoxicated getting into a car,” Columbus Sgt. Rich Weiner said. “He goes over and tries to stop him. That guy takes off backwards at a high rate of speed and takes off.”
Weiner said that Wiegand was heading toward officers, who then fire multiple shots.
According to Weiner, officers have to make tough decisions every day.
“I mean, we are not robots. We are out here, we care, and I can tell you, the officers are torn up about it,” Weiner said. “That is the last thing we want to do. That is the last thing we want to live with.”
Garrett’s friend, Dale Ullom, said that he did not see bullets but saw his friend drop to the ground.
“She was getting out of the car, within like five seconds, she dropped to the ground and was like screaming and crying,” Ullom said.
The officers involved in the shooting were six-year veteran Ryan steel and four-year veteran Jesse Perkens.
Wiegand was charged with felonious assault.
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