COLUMBUS – As Columbus police were investigating the 40th homicide of the year, the fifth in five days, and a shooting incident that targeted a high school, Mayor Andrew Ginther and other city leaders were outlining measures the city will be taking to combat the violence which has Columbus on track to another record year for murders.
After seeing a 33% drop in homicides in 2019, the city experienced 174 homicides in 2020 and is on pace to record 20or more this year.
Cities of all sizes are experiencing similar spikes in violent crime, Ginther said, blaming the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis it has brought about.
Ginther said the administration would initiate programs that target education, development and employment for young men from the Linden neighborhood, increase intervention efforts to help at-risk youth and increase daylight bike patrols, which will continue through the fall.
A 46-year-old woman was found shot to death in her East Side apartment, the 40th homicide of the year.
Felecia Lane was found unresponsive inside her apartment in the 2100 block of Winslow Drive at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday, Sgt. James Marable said
An autopsy the following day revealed that Lane was shot to death, Marable said.
Anyone with information regarding this incident, is asked to call the Columbus Police Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS (8477).
Police say no one was injured when a gunshot was fired into a high school gymnasium where scores of students were taking a test Tuesday.
Officers called to Bishop Hartley High School were told that the gunshot went through the wall of the building on the northwest corner of the school compound near the softball field and struck a metal beam inside the gymnasium shortly before 9:00 a.m.
None of the 59 students taking the test nor the two teachers present were injured, Det. Deryl Kowalski of the Felony Assault Unit said. Anyone with information was asked to contact police at 614-645-4289 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS (8477).
No one was injured early Wednesday when four houses in the 800 block of Bruckner Road on the South Side were struck by bullets witnesses say were fired from a car at two men and a woman riding in an SUV just after 3:30 a.m.. Police say they recovered more than 55 spent cartridges nearby that had come from a variety of firearms, including rifles.
A 12-year-old boy is expected to recover after police say he accidentally shot himself in the hand while handling a firearm inside a home in the 2000 block of Maryland Avenue in Woodland Park on the East Side at 5:45 a.m. Wednesday.