COLUMBUS – Columbus police were investigating two shooting incidents early Friday, one of which resulted in the year’s 102nd homicide.
A man who was shot while sitting in a vehicle in the 4700 block of Robinhood Park on the East Side was pronounced dead a short time later at a local hospital, Sgt. Doug Jones of the Homicide Unit said.
Robert Keith Richardson III was found in a parked vehicle, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, at 4:38 a.m. by officers responding to a report of a shooting, Jones said.
This was the fourth murder in the city in the last week and the 102nd of the year, keeping Columbus on pace to exceed the largest number of homicides ever recorded in one year, the 143 in 2017.
By this time in 2017, police had reported 93 murders and the city saw 73 homicides by Sept. 11, 2019.
A 19-year-old man is in critical condition but is expected to recover from injuries suffered in a shooting in South Linden, Jones said.
Keyvel Coleman was riding a bicycle in front of the Sunoco gas station at the corner of Cleveland Avenue and E. 23rd Avenue at approximately 1:00 a.m. when suspects started shooting at him, Jones said.
He was shot once in the leg and was taken to a hospital.
Anyone with information on either of the incidents is asked to call 614-645-TIPS (8477).