COLUMBUS, Ohio – There will be more police officers around Liberty Elementary School today after a shooting incident nearby that sent two people to the hospital and prompted a lockdown yesterday afternoon.
UPDATE: Police say Arthur Valentine Jr. (an additional person of interest) turned himself into authorities in the area of Mt. Vernon Avenue and N. 20th Street. Additional investigation of the incident lead to Mr.Valentine Jr. being identified as the shooter in this incident. This further investigation additionally confirmed that previous charges against Arthur N. Woolfork were no longer warranted. Those charges have been dismissed.
A woman is behind bars and police are searching for the man they say pulled the trigger in the area of Paladim Place and Reynard Road around 3:35 p.m., hitting Tywan Stewart in the foot and an unidentified 14-year-old boy in the right thigh, police sources said.
Arthur and Articia Woolfork have each been charged with two counts of felonious assault, detectives said.
Officers found Arthur Woolfork’s vehicle at the home at 3263 Winter Lane Park he shared with Articia, 32, who was arrested and charged with helping Arthur Woolfork, 30, escape the scene of the shooting, investigators said. An arrest warrant has been issued for Arthur Woolfork, police said.
Officers had responded after neighborhood residents reported hearing gunshots near the front of the school at 2901 Whitlow Road, police spokesman Sgt. Enrico Alli said.
They found Stewart, 30, who was listed in stable condition at Grant Medical Center and the teen who went to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in critical condition but was upgraded to stable.
Alli says investigators found no reason to believe that the shooting was related to the school, students, or faculty and turned up no connection between either victim at the school or nearby Independence High School.
School administrators put the building under lockdown for about an hour but there were no children outside at the time of the shooting and no shots were fired inside the school, Alli said.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call the Columbus Police Assault Unit at 614-645-4141 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-645-TIPS.