COLUMBUS – Four men shot to death in separate incidents Wednesday were the latest homicide victims in Columbus, which has recorded nine murders in the first six days of the year.
UPDATE 1/7/21 7:40 a.m.: Article updated with two additional homicides and suspect information
Witnesses told police that Trayvon Hardy was shot as he stepped outside of an apartment on Stormy Lane on the West Side at approximately 9:00 p.m. Wednesday and collapsed inside the apartment where officers found him, Sgt. David Shimberg of the Homicide Unit said.
Hardy, 19, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police did not give a motive for the shooting, which is still under investigation
Columbus police officers found David Gaines, 62, at the Sunoco gas station at 1799 E. Hudson Street at 3:18 a.m., Sgt. James Marable said.
Gaines died later at Grant Medical Center and the shooting is also still under investigation.
Detectives are looking for a 40-year-old man in connection with a double homicide on the Southeast Side.
Columbus police officers who spotted a suspicious vehicle parked in front of an address in the 1500 block of Fairwoord Avenue at 1:26 a.m. found an unidentified man seated in the vehicle, suffering from gunshot wounds and a second man, identified as Malik Amar, 43, in the driveway in front of 1570 Fairwood Avenue, Sgt. David Shimberg of the Homicide Unit said.
Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.
Ash Shaheed Abdullah Ibn Jamii is facing two murder charges and is still at large. Shimberg says he should be considered armed and dangerous.
Anyone with information regarding these incidents is asked to call the Columbus Police Homicide Section at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS.