Ohio man fatally wounded while shoveling snow

COLUMBUS (AP) — Robbery was the likely motive in the fatal shooting of a volunteer minister whose wife initially believed he had died of a heart attack while shoveling snow outside their Ohio home, police said today.

Billy Howard, 55, died of a gunshot wound to the chest, and the death has been ruled a homicide, said Franklin County Coroner Jan Gorniak.

Howard died Tuesday night at a hospital after his wife called 911, assuming he had suffered a heart attack while clearing snow in the working-class neighborhood on Columbus’ southeast side.

“It is beyond sad,” said neighbor Karl Thomson. “It’s just senseless.”