COLUMBUS – A nine-hour spasm of violence claimed four lives on Saturday, raising the toll of homicides in Columbus this year to 135.
The victims included a 50-year-old Galloway woman slain by her husband who turned the gun on himself, police said.
A man’s body was also recovered from the Scioto River on the Northwest Side, though the cause of the victim’s death had not been determined as of early Monday.
Four people, including a 17-year-old girl, were also injured in separate incidents.
The murder-suicide happened just before 2:00 p.m. in the 5500 block of Winterberry Drive, west of Norton Road, where police say the woman was killed during a domestic dispute by her 56-year-old husband, who took his own life.
UPDATE 8/24/21 9:37 a.m.: Police have identified the victims in this murder-suicide as Deborah and Anthony Butler.
An unidentified man was found lying in the front yard of a home in the 700 block of S. Highland Avenue about 30 minutes later, suffering from apparent gunshot wounds and he died later at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, Sgt. David Shimberg of the Columbus Homicide Unit said.
A man was shot to death just after 11:00 p.m. following a fight in the 1400 block of Hildreth Avenue, Sgt. James Marable of the Homicide Unit said.
Anyone with any information regarding these incidents is asked to contact the Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS (8477).
Man’s body found in river
Officers called to the 4700 block of Shire Ridge Road East just before 9:00 a.m. Saturday on a report of a body floating in the river found the body of a man in the water, Marable said.
He was pronounced dead at the scene and the Franklin County Coroner’s Office will determine the cause of death.
The victim’s name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, Marable said.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the Homicide Unit or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers.
Crimes reported near OSU campus
Ohio State and Columbus police have issued neighborhood safety notices in the wake of several crimes reported near the OSU campus as students arrived for the start of classes.
A student was approached by two suspects when walking on N. High Street at Northwood Avenue just before 2:30 a.m. Monday. One suspect pointed a gun and demanded the victim’s property. The victim turned and ran sand the suspects fled the area, according to the notice from the OSU Department of Public Safety.
Two Ohio State students reported they were carjacked at gunpoint in a parking lot near the intersection of Indianola Avenue and E. Woodruff Avenue at approximately 11:07 p.m. Saturday by multiple suspects in a white SUV.
Columbus Police say a caller reported that an Ohio State student was robbed and sexually assaulted by two male suspects in the area of Tuller Street and Lane Avenue just before 3:00 a.m. Sunday.