By John Futty
The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus SWAT officer was acting within policy when he fatally shot a rape suspect in North Linden seven months ago, the Police Division’s Firearms Review Board has ruled.
Officer Ronald Moss, 49, fired one shot at Larry A. Martin, 47, when Martin resisted arrest and pulled a gun on officers at the rear of 1428 Genessee Ave. on Dec. 12.
Martin died at the scene.
SWAT officers staked out the abandoned house after an escort service received a call from a man asking to meet an escort there. Police were alerted because another escort was raped in the house two days earlier.
A female detective posing as an escort met Martin outside the house. As officers attempted to take him into custody, Martin ran through the house and was met by two SWAT officers. Police said he fought with the officers and pulled a gun.
A DNA test after his death linked Martin to two rapes -- on the 38-year-old escort on Dec. 10 and on a 16-year-old on Nov. 18, police said.
Last month, a Franklin County grand jury cleared Moss, a 27-year veteran of the force, of criminal wrongdoing in the shooting.
Copyright 2008 The Columbus Dispatch