MCCOMB, Ohio — A man suspected of a homicide in McComb on Monday is believed to be dead following a shooting spree, a police pursuit and a pickup truck fire in Franklin County.
According to the Hancock County Sheriff's Office, Jordan Suydam was named as a person of interest in the killing of Arthur Suydam III of the 110 block of South Meadow Drive.
The sheriff's office investigated the homicide following an emergency call at 2:47 a.m. Arthur Suydam III was pronounced deceased at the scene by McComb EMS personnel.
An alert was sent out to try to locate Jordan Suydam, who reportedly was driving the vehicle of the deceased man.
The vehicle was located in Franklin County, where the Hancock County Sheriff's Office notes it was "involved in an incident" that involved a police pursuit and crash, after which a suspect was pronounced dead. The sheriff's office believes the dead man is Jordan Suydam, and it is awaiting autopsy results.
Franklin County Sheriff's Office Chief Jim Gilbert also could not confirm that Jordan Suydam died in the fiery crash, but Gilbert did confirm that the 2007 Dodge truck belonged to Arthur Suydam III and that it was involved in three random shootings in Columbus.
During their investigation, Columbus police saw the alert that Hancock County released earlier Monday seeking the truck and the suspect. The family of the deceased driver had not been contacted by mid-afternoon, Columbus police said, and the identity of the truck's driver was not easily ascertained because of the amount of damage sustained in the fire. The coroner's office will need to identify him using dental records, Gilbert said.
According to WTOL 11's sister station in Columbus, 10tv, Columbus police said Monday afternoon that a suspect was killed after a crash following a spree that involved shooting at several vehicles on the west side of the city.
Sgt. James Fuqua said Columbus police received three calls just after 11:30 a.m. about someone firing at vehicles in the parking lot of a Kroger store at 5800 West Broad Street.
At least one vehicle was shot in the parking lot, and witnesses said the suspect then left the area in a maroon pickup truck.
Gilbert said police then received a call at around 12:06 p.m. about a man in a maroon truck shooting at people near Westgate Park.
At 12:10 p.m., police received a call about someone shooting at people in the area of the 2200 block of October Ridge Drive.
Gilbert said the shootings appear to have been random.
At 12:25 p.m., Franklin Township officers noticed the suspect's vehicle traveling in the area of Frank Road and Harrisburg Pike.
The officers pursued and the suspect did not stop.
The chase continued onto Georgesville Road and deputies joined in the pursuit.
Fuqua said the suspect was traveling about 100 mph and ran several red lights.
Gilbert said officers and deputies then lost track of the driver.
They then saw smoke coming from some brush next to a warehouse near Phillipi Road and Fisher Road.
Gilbert said when officers and deputies arrived, they found the truck smoking and on fire and the suspect inside was holding a shotgun and he refused to put it down.
Gilbert said 30 to 50 rounds of ammunition inside the vehicle started to explode and the truck became engulfed in flames.
Once the fire was put out, the suspect was pronounced dead at 1:05 p.m.
Gilbert said he did not know the man's connection to Columbus.