COLUMBUS – With three days left in the year, the number of homicides in Columbus already exceeds the previous record high by at least 28 with the deaths of two people police say were involved in a shootout at an East Side gas stations Monday night.
Those deaths raised the number of homicides in 2020 to 171. The previous record for homicides in a single year was 143 in 2017.
If confirmed as homicides, two stabbing deaths on Walford (corrects spelling) Street on the Northeast Side would raise the total to 173. The incident was reported by WBNS 10-TV.
Two women are dead and one man is in critical condition after police responded to a call about a stabbing at the Summit Park Apartments early Tuesday morning, the station reported.
A 17-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man are dead after police say they got into a gunfight in the parking lot of the Exxon Station at 2097 E. Livingston Avenue at approximately 5:53 p.m., Sgt. James Marable of the Homicide Unit said.
Officers found the Donnell Freeman, 17, and Finesse Robinson suffering from apparent gunshot wounds when they arrived at the scene. Both were taken to Grant Medical Center where they died a few minutes later.
Marable says the investigation revealed that the two were involved in a gunfight. A third party, who was also involved, fled the scene in a white Jeep.
The toll increased earlier in the day when the Franklin County Coroner’s Office ruled the death of a man found inside a North Linden home last week to be the year’s 168th homicide, Marable said.
Officers called to the area of 1521 Republic Avenue on a report of a shooting at 11:52 p.m. Tuesday found the man who was pronounced dead at the scene.
The victim’s name is still being withheld pending positive identification and notification of next of kin.
Anyone with information regarding these incidents is asked to call Columbus Police Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS (8477).
A 17-year-old boy was listed in stable condition after police say he was shot in the leg in the 3300 block of Penfield Road on the Southeast Side just after 8;00 Monday night, Felony Assault Unit Det. Dirk Russell said.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Felony Assault Unit at 614-645-4141.