Violent weekend has Columbus police searching for answers
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) - In addition to shootings that took place Monday afternoon, investigators with the Columbus Division of Police are looking into several shootings which happened over the weekend. Five separate shootings took place from Friday evening through Sunday, resulting in 10 people being shot.
“The fact we had those numbers, it gives us a little bit of time to pause, little concerned," said Columbus Division of Police Commander Mark Denner.
Two of the people shot did not survive. Ziyadah Brown, 28, and 27-year-old David Thomas were both killed in south Franklinton, according to Columbus Police.
“Any time you have even one person that is injured or ends up losing their life, it's unfortunate," Denner said. "We will continue to show up and do our jobs, whether it's the officers or investigators, and we will continue to do that each and every time to make sure the families in the city get justice and we bring those individuals responsible for what they have done."
A 16-year-old boy was shot in northeast Columbus Friday night. Three people were shot outside a sports bar in the Hilltop Saturday. A 19-year-old man and 16-year-old by were hurt in a separate shooting in south Columbus on Saturday. Police said a woman was shot by a 14-year-old boy on Summit Street Sunday evening after a dog was hit by a car.
"These are bad decisions people are making and if the first thought or first choice is go grab a gun and solve your problem that way, that's where the ripple effect of bad outcomes happens," Denner said.
Denner said there is continued concern about youth in the city being involved in violence.
"These are the kids, this is our future and so when we have kids either the victims or suspects; it’s impacting them, it's impacting their families in both ways," he said. "I would say from a division standpoint, from a city standpoint, I think it's one of those we all want to wrap our arms around them, and we all want to try to figure out ways to reduce that."