Amazon warehouse security guard barely missed killing supervisor and police officer
A security guard at the Amazon warehouse facility in West Jefferson — whom police say shot twice at close range at his supervisor and missed and later shot a Columbus police officer's bulletproof vest before he was fatally shot by law enforcement — was not supposed to have a gun on duty, police said at a press conference Monday.
Ali Hamsa Yusuf, 22, was fatally shot by law enforcement after he shot a Columbus police officer during a confrontation with law enforcement at Georgesville and Clime North roads on Columbus' West Side. That shooting and another one Saturday evening in which another armed suspect in a domestic violence homicide was killed by police, were the subject of the press conference held at Columbus police headquarters, Downtown.
The bullet from Yusuf's gun that hit the unidentified Columbus police officer, a four-year member of the Division of Police whom police are not identifying under Marsy's Law, fortunately struck him in his bulletproof vest and he was not seriously injured, Columbus police Chief Elaine Bryant said during the press conference. He was transported in stable condition to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, Downtown, where he was treated and released Sunday night. Bryant told reporters Monday that the officer was at home and "doing okay."
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West Jefferson Chief Brandon Smith said that security at the Amazon facility is contracted with another company and the security guards are unarmed. The supervisor told investigating officers he noticed his trainee had been gone for longer than what a normal break would be and then heard shots being fired, he said.
The supervisor hit the ground when the gunshots were fired at him, then ran. The suspect gave chase for about 15 yards before running out the front of the building, Smith said.
Smith said the supervisor helped obtain video footage from inside the Amazon facility showing Yusuf about 3 feet behind the supervisor with the gun pointed at the supervisor's head. The gun appears to have jammed and the bullet barely missed the supervisor.
The firearm would have to have been brought in concealed, Smith said. As of Monday evening, detectives did not have a motive as to why Yusuf attempted to kill his supervisor, he said.
The suspect has no known prior criminal history, Bryant said.
Madison County plainclothes officers went to the man's last known address at an apartment complex off of Norton Road. They were doing covert surveillance on the man and awaiting Columbus police backup. Before Columbus police could get there, Yusuf drove off. The plain clothes vehicle followed until Columbus police and Franklin Township officers could get in position to stop the vehicle at Georgesville and Clime North roads on Columbus' West Side, just east of the Interstate 270 outerbelt.
Franklin Township police officers pulled their vehicles in front of the man's sedan at a traffic light and a Columbus police cruiser with its dashcam on came up from behind. Yusuf exited his vehicle and began firing at the Columbus officer. Yuself then began to run around the rear of his car. As Yusuf tries to run away, law enforcement officers bgan shooting at him and the Columbus police officer, whom the division is not identifying citing Marsy's Law, realized he had been hit in his bulletproof vest.
'He almost executed me.'
Madison County 911 dispatch recordings paint a picture of the aftermath of the Amazon shooting.
Just after 4:40 p.m. on May 12, Madison County dispatch received a call from an employee at the Amazon facility in West Jefferson reporting sounds of at least two gunshots inside the building, and that people had already started running toward the emergency exits and congregating outside of the facility.
A moment later, a security supervisor at the facility, who did not give his name, called in to the dispatch line at 4:43 p.m., struggling to catch his breath, saying that his trainee, later identified as Yusuf, had shot at him twice and missed.
"He almost executed me," he tells the dispatcher.
He tells the dispatcher that no one else was shot at and he believed the shooter may have left the building. He describes the shooter as being about 6 feet tall, wearing black pants and uniform shirt with 'Securitas' on it. He said the shooter had been training with him for two or three weeks.
The third and final 911 call released came in at 4:49 p.m. from an Amazon supervisor, telling the dispatchers about the active shooter situation and that he did not know who the shooter was.
Domestic violence call turns into firefight; 2 dead, one victim ID'd
Columbus police officers were responding to reports of shots fired and a domestic violence call at 7:08 p.m. Saturday in the 4700 block of McAllister Avenue just off Shady Lane Road, one block south of East Main Street when they immediately came under fire from a man with some type of rifle. Body worn camera footage from the incident shows the officers taking cover behind vehicles in a driveway as the officers returned fire.
After running across the street to another house, officers returned to the original location with their guns drawn. One of the residents at the home told officers that the man firing at them had been shot by police. Body worn camera footage shows the man, who has not been identified, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Officers rendered aid until medics arrived and transported the suspect to Mount Carmel East Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead at 7:50 p.m. Bryant told reporters that multiple weapons were discovered, but citing the pending BCI investigation, could not offer details such as what kind of weapons, how many, or where they were found.
As officers were securing the shooting scene, residents at the home told officers about the body of a woman in a residence on the 1000 block of Lockwood Road. The woman, now identified as 45-year-old Nicole Pleasant, had been shot multiple times by the suspect before police arrived on scene. Pleasant was pronounced dead at 7:18 p.m.
No Columbus police officers were injured. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation was called to the scene to investigate, as is the case with any law enforcement officer-involved shooting in the city of Columbus.
'We will not tolerate anyone shooting at us'
In what was a turbulent weekend for not just Columbus police but other police agencies, Bryant expressed thanks to police officers and other first responders for their actions during the weekend's events.
Bryant also made it clear that when officers' lives are threatened by guns, force will be met with force.
"We will not tolerate anyone shooting at us," said Bryant.
@ShahidMeighan
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Amazon security supervisor and Columbus officer escaped death
