Columbus security officer in critical condition after being shot
Columbus OH March 17, 2022 Columbus police have identified Laurance Ball, 36, of the Northeast Side, as the woman who was shot to death outside Podunk’s bar, 1644 E. Dublin Granville Road, just before closing at about 2 a.m. Friday.
Ball was known to family and friends by the nicknames “Peaches” and “Mrs. Nesbitt,” according to her Facebook page.
Wayne Carvel Anthony Lee Coffman, 34, of the East Side, has been charged with murder in the death of Ball and felonious assault in the shooting of Anthony Ray Smith. Additional charges are expected, police said.
Court records indicate that sometime between 1:30 and 1:45 a.m. Friday, surveillance video shows Coffman getting into an altercation inside the bar with Smith and striking him several times.
Bar security broke up the fight, but Coffman attempted to disarm several security guards in an effort to obtain their firearms, records state. Coffman then left the bar and was handed a handgun in the parking lot by an unidentified person, court documents state.
Coffman walked up to Smith in the parking lot and shot Smith multiple times, court records state. Gunfire then erupted among several people in the parking lot.
That’s when Ball, who was attempting to take cover, was struck several times and died from her injuries a short time later, court records state.
Mareo Bell, 33, of the Northeast Side, a security guard at the bar at the Northland Plaza shopping center, also was shot and was listed in critical, life-threatening condition.
Another person, whose name was not released, also was taken to an area hospital with injuries.
dispatch.com
