COVINGTON, Ga. — A Covington man recently was arrested and was being held for Ohio police after being suspected of exchanging gunfire with another man inside a Columbus, Ohio-area shopping mall in early March and fleeing to Georgia.
Anthony Deshawn Truss was arrested April 7 in Covington while the person with which he allegedly exchanged gunfire, Levon Sommerville, was arrested in Tucker in DeKalb County April 12, said U.S. Marshal Peter Tobin.
Truss, 21, of Pleasant Hills Court in Covington, was being held without bond in the Newton County Detention Center today, according to information from the Newton County Sheriff’s Office.
He was arrested at a location on Griffin Lane in Newton County.
Truss and Sommerville were wanted by the Columbus Police Department on separate warrants issued March 3 that charged both with Felonious Assault, the Columbus Dispatch newspaper reported.
Columbus police had issued warrants for both men's arrest after they identified the men as the two suspects.
The charges stem from an incident in which Truss and Sommerville allegedly used handguns to shoot at each other inside the Polaris Fashion Place mall in Columbus.
The shootout occurred after the two got into an argument inside the Carter's/Osh Kosh B'Gosh store around 12:30 p.m. on March 3, the Dispatch reported.
Somerville is suspected of firing inside the store at Truss at close range before departing. Truss then followed Sommerville out into the mall and fired at Sommerville as he walked away, the Dispatch reported.
No one was struck by gunfire or otherwise injured in the shooting.
Following the shooting, Columbus police indicated they knew the identities of the gunmen and advised that they turn themselves in.
However, police soon sought the public's assistance in identifying the suspects with the release of surveillance images of the shooting, according to the Dispatch.
Truss was the first to be identified publicly by police on March 8.
Once investigators determined that Truss and Sommerville had most likely fled Ohio, a multi-agency fugitive task force — the Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team — led by U.S. Marshals began searching for the two suspects at the request of the Columbus Division of Police.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives later announced the offer of a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrests and convictions of Truss and Sommerville, according to the Dispatch.
