COLUMBUS (WCMH) — A Franklin County Deputy had a close call after authorities said a man fired a gun at him using a noise suppressor.
The shooting happened Saturday just after seven in the morning, at the Havenwood Townhomes just off Georgesville Road.
A Franklin County Deputy responded to a 911 call on the 4300 block of Leesburg Ct. only to realize he was being targeted by gunfire. Two bullets hit the back passenger side of his cruiser, and he took cover while another shattered the rear passenger window.
“On this type of run our deputy just came under sudden attack, he didn’t even see the suspect at first,” said Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin.
One of two firearms Jason Kimberling was eventually caught with was a semi-automatic weapon with a noise suppressor screwed onto the muzzle. The sheriff said that makes it even more dangerous for his deputy.
“The noise of the gunfire is going to get your attention and if you can’t hear that, obviously that is very, very dangerous,” Baldwin said.
He said a 911 caller reported Kimberling rifling through his pickup truck when the owner confronted him. The caller told the deputies Kimberling fired a shot at him, but missed.
“I am extremely concerned! My personnel out there, I worry about their safety every day,” Baldwin said.
Deputies said they searched the area for quite some time. Baldwin said they eventually spotted Kimberling coming out of a vacant building in the Westland Mall area and arrested him without further incident.
“At the apprehension scene, this person was armed at the time when another deputy confronted him, and again, my deputies showed great restraint, no shots were fired.”
Kimberling has an extensive arrest record and the sheriff said he was illegally in possession of the firearms and noise suppressor . For now he is charged with felonious assault along with aggravated burglary and robbery and is being held in the Franklin County jail.