This story has been updated after receiving additional information from Columbus police.
(Editor’s note: On Jan. 12, 2026, Elijah Roberts pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and tampering with evidence in connection with the July 9, 2025, shooting death of 26-year-old Joseph Suiter. Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Marianne Hemmeter sentenced Roberts to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 27 years.)
A man died in a Polaris Target parking lot July 9 following a shooting at a nearby apartment complex, police said.
Joseph Suiter, 26, was found with a gunshot wound outside the Target at 1485 Polaris Parkway after a shooting was reported at 6:10 p.m. July 9, Columbus police said in a news release. He was pronounced dead at the scene by medics at 6:19 p.m.
Police said witnesses at the scene identified Elijah Roberts, 19, as the shooter. SWAT officers arrested him at a nearby residence, and he was taken to the Delaware County Jail. Roberts has been charged with aggravated murder and was ordered held in lieu of a $3 million bond, according to Delaware County Common Pleas Court records.
Responding officers found Suiter inside a black sedan in a tree line in the parking lot suffering from at least one gunshot wound.
Columbus police Sgt. Joe Albert said the shooting occurred outside the entrance to The Gardens at Polaris Apartments, 1500 Royal Gold Dr., which is located behind the Target store in Delaware County. Suiter drove off and into trees on the southeast side of the Target parking lot, where the shooting was reported, he said.
An entrance drive to the Target from the apartment complex was closed by a police cruiser that evening. Crime scene tape surrounded the area around the car.
A handful of vehicles parked near the car that Suiter was in were within the taped-off area and the owners could not get to them.
Homicide Unit detectives were at the scene, where at least one shell casing was recovered and shattered window glass was found by the vehicle.
In the news release, police said a “drug transaction” was a possible motive.
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This story was updated to add a gallery.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Delaware County man charged in fatal shooting near Target store
Reporting by Shahid Meighan and Bailey Gallion, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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