COLUMBUS – The number of homicides in Columbus this year — already an all-time record — continued to grow with two additional fatal shootings over the past three days with the possibility that another shooting victim would be murder victim No. 147 if the death is ruled a homicide.
One man died early Monday morning after a double shooting at a hotel near the Ohio Expo Center and another died Saturday after being shot at a home on the Northeast Side, police said.
Hussein Galat Dahir and Abdisaid Galat Dahir were inside a room at the Days Inn hotel at 1700 Clara Street at 1:15 a.m. Monday by patrol officers responding to a reported shooting, Sgt. Eric Pilya of the Homicide Unit said.
Hussein Dahir, 20, was pronounced dead about three hours later at Grant Medical Center while Abdisaid Dahir, 24, was treated at OSU Wexner Medical Center and released, Pilya said.
UPDATE 11/18/20 8:27 a.m.: Murder charges were filed against Said Maki Said, 19, who is still at large, police said.
This was the 146th homicide of the year in Columbus, which broke the old record of 143 homicides on Friday.
The 145th homicide was a man found shot to death in a home in the 2000 block of Rankin Avenue just before 11:45 a.m. Saturday, Sgt. James Marable said.
Toby Smith, 45, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The motive for the shooting is still under investigation.
Police have not ruled the death of a man at a West Side apartment complex early Saturday a homicide but are treating it as suspicious, Columbus police Sgt. David Shimberg said.
UPDATE 11/18/20 7:55 a.m. with victim’s identity
The man, identified as 40-year-old John Roby, was found suffering from a gunshot wound at 832 Wedgewood Drive just after 3:00 a.m. and he died at Grant Medical Center less than an hour later.
Shimberg says the incident it is being investigated as a suspicious death due to circumstances surrounding the case.
Anyone with information about these shootings is asked to call the Columbus Police Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS (8477).