Short North Posse Leader Killed

Federal authorities are reporting that the ringleader of the Short North Posse in Columbus has been shot and killed in a gun battle Tuesday morning in Franklin County. U-S Marshall Peter Tobin says 33-year-old Jermonte Fletcher died after shooting at officers who came to an apartment to arrest him just before 8:30 this morning. Prosecutors says drug dealing, robberies, murder-for-hire were the only source of income for gang members. U-s Attorney’s Office spokesman Fred Alverson says there is a local connection…one of the victims of the gang is Shane Allen McCuen of Zanesville who was shot to death in Zanesville in 2008 allegedly by Deshawn Smith, also of Zanesville. Many members of the gang are expected to be put on trial next year