Two people were wounded in separate vehicles as at least four vehicles were struck in drive-by shootings Wednesday afternoon along Morse Road between Westerville Road and Cleveland Avenue on Columbus' Northeast Side, police said. The two wounded were last reported in stable condition, police said.

A drive-by shooter firing from a vehicle injured two people inside separate vehicles and struck at least two other vehicles Wednesday afternoon on Morse Road on the Northeast Side, triggering an intensive search by Columbus police.

Police and fire medics were called about 4 p.m. on the report of a shooting in the 2700 block of Morse Road just west of Chesford Road in the area of the Morse Glen Apartments and Steve's Barber Shop. Morse Road was closed between Cleveland Avenue and Westerville Road for about three hours.

Jontae W. Hudson, 24, was driving west on Morse Road in a silver compact car and was struck by a bullet in the left side of his face, police said. After being struck, Hudson lost control of his vehicle, veered off Morse Road and struck a fire hydrant. He was taken in critical condition to Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center, where he was later upgraded to stable.

Christi A. Smith, 64, was driving in another car and she was struck in the left leg by a bullet, police said. She was taken in stable condition to OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital. She reportedly had a young grandchild in the car who was not hurt.

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Lt. Larry Yates said police believe someone in a vehicle traveling westbound in one of the passing lanes on that six-lane section of Morse Road fired the shots and struck at least four different vehicles that were traveling westbound.

"We don't know exactly who they were firing at," Yates said at the scene. The shooter was identified only as a male.

There is a potential that more cars were hit, the lieutenant said. Detectives were talking to witnesses and getting a better description of the shooter and the car he was in, Yates said.

Hudson was in a silver car that had been traveling ahead of a COTA Morse Road/Line 34 bus driver with one passenger aboard.

That bus was held at the scene by police so the driver and a passenger could be interviewed to determine if they were potential witnesses, said Jeff Pullin, a COTA spokesman. Yates said that detectives were going to review the video camera from the bus.

As a result, COTA had to dispatch a relief bus to serve the Morris Road/Line 34 route, Pullin said, so patrons along that route experienced some delays during the afternoon commute. COTA rerouted bus service using Ferris Road to the south around the closed section of Morse until police reopened the major six-lane roadway by about 7:15 p.m.

In addition, a school bus with students aboard was on that section of the road and was caught up in the investigation scene. Because of the heat, the students on that bus were transferred to the air conditioned COTA bus. Another school bus was sent to get those students and take them home.

Columbus City Schools were closed Wednesday, and it was not immediately clear whether the students involved were charter or parochial schools serviced by city school transportation buses or whether the students were from Westerville schools.

jwoods@dispatch.com

@Woodsnight