COLUMBUS – The deaths of three people, including a man whose death was ruled a homicide 10 months after he was shot while driving on a street on the Hilltop, raised the total number of homicides in Columbus this year to 170.
That number is five short of the record of 175 homicides recorded in the city in 2020.
The Franklin County Coroner’s Office ruled that Terry Cooper, who was found inside a vehicle that struck a tree in front of 638 Wiltshire Road on Feb. 11 was a homicide, Sgt. Dave Shimberg of the Columbus police Homicide Unit said.
Cooper, 47, was suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and died on May 19.
This is the 169th homicide of the year in Columbus.
Two men died Wednesday in separate shooting incidents, adding to the city’s murder toll.
Detectives say Carlos Garner was apparently shot to death by his intended victim during a home invasion on the Northeast Side early Wednesday.
Garner, 36, allegedly forced entry into an apartment in the 2300 block of Northland Square just after 2:30 a.m., when he was confronted inside the apartment by a 23-year-old man who lived there with a woman and an infant, Sgt. James Marable of the Homicide Unit said.
The two men exchanged gunfire, wounding each other, and Garner died later at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital.
The woman and child were not injured.
The man who confronted Garner was listed in stable condition.
No charges were filed this case and Marable said that the case would will be forwarded to the Franklin County Prosecutor’s office for review.
This was the 168th homicide of the year.
The victim of the most recent homicide was a 19-year-old man police say was shot while walking along a South Linden street with a woman Wednesday morning.
Officers dispatched to the area of Cleveland Avenue and E. 21st Avenue at 10:53 a.m. on report of a shooting found Tanknai Houpe suffering from gunshot wounds to the back and chest, Sgt. Eric Piliya of the Homicide Unit said.
Houpe died later at a local hospital, the 170th homicide victim of the year.
Pilya says Jamayca Davis, 19, told police she and Houpe were walking in the area when a black four door sedan passed them and someone fired multiple gunshots at them from inside the vehicle, striking Houpe.
Davis did not report any injuries, Pilya said.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS (8477).
Two women were injured in shooting incidents.
Aliceona Bell, 29, was hurt when she was shot while driving in the 900 block of S. High Street just after 12:20 a.m. Thursday. Police say she crashed her Jeep Wrangler into a porch near the intersection of S. High Street and Frederick Street and fled the scene, though she was found near S. Front Street and was taken to the hospital with a wound to the neck, which was determined to be non-life threatening, a surprise to doctors, Det. Robert Reffitt of the Felony Assault Unit said.
Two other people in the vehicle were unhurt, Reffitt said.
A 30-year-old woman was injured when she was shot while driving on S. Ohio Ave. near E. Whittier Street on the South Side just before midnight Wednesday night, police said.