COLUMBUS – A man killed during a vigil for a another murder victim and a 20-year-old man shot to death on an East Side street raised the total number of homicide victims in Columbus for 2017 to 133, 6 short of the record of 139 set 26 years ago.
NOTE: This is an updated version of a story posted earlier
Police say Je’Juan Johnson was killed when suspects armed with assault rifles and handguns opened fire on the car he was riding in in the 2100 block of Alum Creek Drive just before 11:00 p.m., said Homicide Unit Sgt. Jeff Strayer.
Strayer says Johnson was found by officers on the side of the road, suffering from a gunshot wound, and he died later at Grant Medical Center. An 18-year-old man in the car with him was unharmed and tried to drive away, Strayer said.
The shooting came less than two hours after a man was killed and three other people, including a 9-year-old girl, were wounded in a drive-by shooting during a vigil for a man who was killed on the same South Side street earlier this week.
Police were called to the scene in the 400 block of Barthman Avenue shortly after 9:00 p.m. on a report than several people had been shot, said Sgt. Stanley Latta of the Homicide Unit.
Chaz Robertson, 32, was taken to Grant Medical Center where he later died.
Two 33-year-old women and the 9-year-old were also injured and taken to area hospitals iin stable condition, Latta said.
No arrests have been made. A motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
It happened during a vigil for 29-year-old Brandon Meeks, who was shot and killed nearby on Monday.
Police have not said if the shootings are connected.
Anyone with information regarding these incidents is asked to call the Columbus Police Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS(8477).