'I'm hit': Bodycam shows Columbus officer's shootout with Amazon guard
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Videos released by the Columbus Division of Police show an exchange of gunfire that left one officer shot and an Amazon security guard dead.
The bodycam and police car dashcam captured the moments around 6 p.m. Sunday when Columbus police caught up with 22-year-old Ali Hamsa Yusuf's car, following a shooting at a local Amazon warehouse. Squad vehicles pinned him at the intersection of Georgesville and Clime Road, but the dashcam video showed he got out of his car and immediately began firing at the officers behind him.
A male officer could be heard groaning as the gunfire continued. He and another officer got out of the car to shoot back, and his bodycam captured the driver-side window shattered by a bullet.
The dashcam showed Yusuf running up a small hill to a HomeBuys parking lot, and still firing at the officers behind him. Officers returned fire and Yusuf eventually collapsed on the hill. Starting from Yusuf's first shot, the continuous exchange of gunfire lasted eight seconds.
After the shooting, the officer who groaned realized he had been shot.
"I'm hit," he could be heard saying in the bodycam. "104, I'm hit by a bullet."
Despite multiple officers checking on him, he told them he was "good." They could be heard saying they didn't see signs of bleeding, but then told him to go to the hospital.
Another officer took him to Grant Medical Center in stable condition, and he was later released from the hospital. Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said that the officer’s bulletproof vest stopped the gunshot from causing a more serious injury.
Yusuf was taken to Doctors West Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:57 p.m.
The shootout with police stemmed from an earlier report of gunfire at Amazon's CMH5 distribution center, located west of Columbus. Yusuf was a security guard assigned to the building by an outside contractor. Investigators said he showed up with a gun around 4:45 p.m. West Jefferson officers initially responded to the warehouse, where more than 100 employees were inside, after they said Yusuf showed up with a gun. Yusuf fired one shot and damaged the building before leaving, but no one was injured, according to police.
Witnesses gave differing accounts on the number of shots fired in the facility. One 911 caller stated he heard shots fired inside the building and a woman screaming before people started going outside. Another 911 caller, who identified himself as an Amazon employee, said Yusuf was his “trainee” and that he shot at him twice but missed.
“He almost executed me,” the second 911 caller said.
According to information provided by Amazon, all employees were sent home with pay Sunday evening and shifts at the facility were canceled with employees receiving pay.
“We’re thankful that no one at our facility was injured during this incident and for the work of our team on the ground and first responders,” Amazon's communications team wrote to NBC4.
This was the second incident in which a suspect was shot by a Columbus police officer over the weekend. On Saturday, officers engaged in a “gun battle” with a domestic violence suspect on the east side, killing him. Police said the man killed a woman before encountering police.