Columbus police are investigating three overnight shootings, including in the city’s Short North that injured multiple people and involved multiple officers.
North High Street, from First Avenue to Goodale Street, the popular nightspot just north of the Greater Columbus Convention Center, remained shut down to vehicles and pedestrians as of 10 a.m. Saturday.
Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant provided the following details:
Officers responded to a report of a shooting about 2:30 a.m. in the 600 block of North High Street. After they arrived at the scene, they heard more gunshots a short distance away, and multiple officers fired back.
As of 10 a.m. Saturday, Columbus police detectives and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents were still trying to determine precisely how many people were injured at each scene but said one person is in critical condition. No officers were injured, and a gun was found at the scene.
BCI is overseeing the investigation because officers were involved.
Less than an hour later, officers responded to a home in the 1400 block of St. Clair Avenue, where they found five people with gunshot wounds. One person died, and the suspect was taken to a hospital in critical condition with what a preliminary investigation seems to indicate was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
A man was shot about 4:40 a.m. in the 500 block of East Whittier Street as the result of what a preliminary investigation seems to indicate was an argument. The man later died at a hospital. Police have a suspect but have not arrested that person, Bryant told The Dispatch.
As of 10 a.m. Saturday, the area on North High Street remained closed, with dozens of yellow cards marking shell casings on a sidewalk near Prescott Street and out in the street.
“What we do know is this is an active scene,” Bryant told The Dispatch. “There was an officer, and this is an officer-involved shooting.”
Short North residents express fear, concern about growing violence
A passerby named Kenneth, who declined to give his last name because he was concerned for his safety, lives east of High Street and was walking his Great Dane shortly before 10 a.m. near Price Avenue.
“Apparently, between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m., you don’t want to be out here without a rifle,” he said. “If I were younger, in my 20s, I’d be out at these places until 2 a.m., but I’m not going anywhere near here after midnight.”
D.J. Baugh, 31, who lives in the area with his girlfriend, Tara Guillozet, 28, said he was sleeping on the couch early Saturday morning when he awoke to the sounds of vehicles speeding away and a woman screaming for help.
“We never know what to expect when we go out, especially when the weather gets gets nice,” Baugh said. “It’s really unfortunate.”
The couple said they have heard gunshots numerous times in the area and even had friends who had to dive underneath a table after hearing them while out at an outdoor patio.
“There’s just the feeling that something may go wrong,” Guillozet said.
The couple, who have lived in Columbus for two years, said they are saving money to buy a house in Dublin to get away from the violence.
Early-morning crime in the Short North along High Street became an issue last year due to a string of incidents, prompting the Columbus City Council — responding to complaints from residents — to object to renewing certain establishments’ liquor licenses and limiting street food-vending hours. Gregory Coleman Jr., 37, died last year after being sucker-punched around 2:30 a.m. outside a bar on the 1000 block of North High Street where he had stopped for food at a food cart.
In late March, the council made changes to mobile food vendor regulations in an attempt to clear the area earlier after bars close, after residents said problems were the results of lingering on the streets. As of May 1, the city has required mobile food vendors operating in congested areas of the city like the Short North to cease operating at 2:30 a.m. rather than 3 a.m.