COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A police officer who shot at two teenagers, injuring one, during a traffic stop will face no charges, a grand jury decided Friday.
A Franklin County grand jury declined to indict Columbus Police Officer Joshua Ohlinger for firing his weapon during a traffic stop in east Columbus last August. Ohlinger and another officer pulled over a car near East Main Street and Seymour Avenue, when they said 17-year-old Deonte Jones and 18-year-old Najaa Ellman got out of the back of a car with guns drawn.
Both teenagers started to run away, and Ohlinger and the other officer said Ellman pointed his gun at the officers. Ohlinger fired four shots, striking Jones once. Jones was taken to Grant Medical Hospital and survived his injuries.
It was the first of two times Ohlinger shot someone during a traffic stop in a six-month span. After returning from an 89-day leave for the August shooting, in February, he shot 66-year-old Michael Cleveland, who ran during a traffic stop on the South Side. Body camera footage from the shooting showed Cleveland threw something out of his right pocket, which police said was a gun. Ohlinger fired his gun multiple times.
Last October, Ellman was charged with improperly handling a firearm and having a weapon under disability, both felonies. The charges have been dismissed as the prosecutor seeks to re-indict Ellman, according to court records.