By Kevin Mayhood
Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Like cowboys whooping it up, central Ohioans celebrated another new year with guns blazing in the air.
But for the first time, Columbus police shot revelers who they said refused to drop their weapons.
Three people, all involved in separate incidents, were treated at area hospitals, though none suffered life-threatening injuries.
“We’ve never had three police-involved shootings in one night before,” said Sgt. Jeff Sacksteder, of the Columbus Police Division’s cold-case squad. Sacksteder and a host of others were called in because of all the action on New Year’s Eve.
Although shooting a gun within city limits is illegal, police had to respond to hundreds of calls of shots fired late Wednesday and early yesterday.
A breakdown of calls wasn’t available yesterday, but police said they were called to about 400 incidents in just one hour -- between midnight Wednesday and 1 a.m. New Year’s Day.
“There was more gunfire in the city of Columbus last night than in Iraq,” said Sgt. Jim Gilbert, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9.
Gilbert said charges “absolutely” would be filed against those who were shot.
Last night, police wouldn’t release the names of the officers involved nor the injured. An internal investigation continues, which occurs with all police shootings.
In each case, police say a person ignored repeated orders to drop a gun before an officer fired.
The first incident occurred on the East Side about 11:50 p.m. New Year’s Eve. Police said an officer shot a man in the leg in front of 1490 Elaine Rd., Apt. C.
A second man was shot in the hand by police minutes later in South Linden, on the back porch of 1046 E. 16th Ave., police said.
Both men were treated at Grant Medical Center.
A woman was shot in the arm in front of 457 Cherry Dr. in Franklinton, shortly after 2 a.m. New Year’s Day, police said. Police said she was in a group of people in which one member was firing an automatic rifle into the air.
She was treated at Mount Carmel West.
Police have dealt with guns being fired on New Year’s Eve for years, but this might have been the first time an officer has fired at a shooter. Police said they couldn’t remember another time it’s happened.
Gilbert said that when officers go out on a call of shots fired, they have their guns drawn as they approach suspected shooters. Police will fire if they fear for themselves or someone else, he said.
“It’s a split-second decision,” Gilbert said.
He said that officers have become so concerned about bullets raining down on New Year’s Eve that they try to find a building with a heavy overhang to stand under around midnight.
In the past, revelers with guns have killed others.
Angela Hughes, 16, died and her grandmother, Phyllis Sanders, was injured early on New Year’s Day in 2005 when bullets were fired into their S. Champion Avenue home, striking them in the kitchen.
A drunken neighbor, Damion Hayes, 27, had fired out of his second-story window in celebration. Hayes is serving an eight-year prison sentence.
Eleven-year-old Glennda Chaffin was killed just 20 minutes into 1994 when the shotgun her father was firing into the air on the South Side exploded.
Guns also were fired outside the city Wednesday night. The Franklin County sheriff’s office received 17 calls, a dispatcher said.
In Lancaster, shots rang out to ring in the new year, too.
It happens every year, although police certainly frown on the practice, Lancaster Police Capt. Dan Patten said. “It’s usually one round or two. You can’t tell where it’s coming from.”
The Fairfield County sheriff’s office received a few calls from people reporting gunshots fired around midnight, a pattern that happens every year, a dispatcher said.
Copyright 2009 Columbus Dispatch