Columbus police announced Aug. 18 that they have arrested an 18-year-old man in connection with a drive-by shooting a day earlier at a funeral that injured two people.
Shimetrious Coates-Jones, of Columbus' Milo-Grogan neighborhood, faces four counts of felonious assault, as well as charges of improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle, discharging a firearm on or near prohibited premises, and unlawful possession of a dangerous ordnance in connection with the shooting.
He also is charged with tampering with evidence, carrying a concealed weapon with a dangerous-ordnance specification, and receiving stolen property. Those charges stem from allegations that he fled from police later that night as officers attempted to detain him in connection
with the shooting.
Just before 12:30 p.m. Aug. 17, police responded to a drive-by shooting as people attending a funeral were exiting the Antioch Jordan Baptist Church, located at 1825 Woodland Park Ave. in the Argyle Park neighborhood. Court records say that the shooter was sitting in the passenger side of a stolen BMW when they opened fire.
Two people were shot and transported to local hospitals in stable condition, according to court filings.
Later that night, officers tracked the stolen BMW to the 600 block of East 4th Avenue in the Milo Grogan neighborhood, according to the criminal complaint. Officers saw Coates-Jones retrieve something from the front of the BMW, then followed him as he drove to the Exxon gas station at 693 E. 5th Ave., according to the criminal complaint.
As officers moved in to detain Coates-Jones, police said he fled on foot. As he was running, he tossed a handgun into the middle of the street, according to the criminal complaint.
Coates Jones was arrested shortly after on East 5th Avenue near the Interstate 71 bridge, according to the complaint.
The handgun – a PSA Dagger 9mm that was recovered by police – turned out to be stolen and was equipped with a Glock switch, a small device used to convert semiautomatic handguns into fully automatic weapons. The gun was linked to shell casings found at the scene of the drive-by shooting at the funeral that took place earlier that day, according to the criminal complaint.
Coates-Jones was ordered held in lieu of a combined $1 million bond on his charges, according to court filings. His next court date is scheduled for Aug. 28.
Columbus police engage in shootout with suspects while guarding home in drive-by investigation
Hours after Coates-Jones was arrested, Columbus police officers who were following up on that drive-by shooting at the funeral and guarding a home of people connected with the incident came under gunfire by unknown suspects.
The suspects opened fire on officers and women as they stood near police cruisers at 10:35 p.m. Aug. 17 on the 600 block of Gibbard Avenue, body camera video shows.
At least two officers were standing in the street with the women when they came under gunfire, the video shows. They dove for cover behind the cruisers, while an officer standing in the backyard of a nearby home ran toward the gunfire and fired at the shooters, who were not visible on the video.
Just before the gunfire began, an officer was talking to a woman whose image police redacted in the video. “As far as I know, everyone that is detained got transported to headquarters,” he was saying in the video. The other officer was pulling crime scene tape out of the trunk of a cruiser.
A woman called 911 immediately after the shooting, saying her sister, cousin and niece were shot, according to a recording provided to The Dispatch. Two neighbors also called 911 and said they saw someone shooting at police.
Two women were hospitalized in stable condition after the shooting. Police said the two women were not injured by the officer who returned fire.
Police did not release the name of the officer who fired at the suspects. Columbus police Sgt. Joe Albert said his identity is protected as a victim under the state's Marsy’s Law. The incident report about the shooting describes an unnamed police officer as a victim of felonious assault.
The incident report for the shooting lists four possible suspects, all of them unknown. Police have not released any descriptions of the suspects or said what they believe their motive was.
Dispatch reporter Bailey Gallion contributed to this story.
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Milo-Grogan man charged in drive-by shooting at funeral
