COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Division of Police released its most recent felonious assault and homicide data. It shows 143 people have been killed so far in the city this year. The highest number of homicides in a single year remains to be 2021 with 205, followed by 175 in 2020.
This data comes after a violent weekend in the city, with 16 people either being shot or stabbed between Friday night and Sunday night. Three people were killed, including a 13-year-old boy.
Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin shared how angry he felt about this violence in the community on Monday.
"I was angered this weekend when I heard the homicide, we're talking about a young teenager being shot and killed, engaged with other young folks in violence. Any time we hear these stories its heartbreaking but even more so it angers me because I know that we can do better as a community,” Hardin said.
Hardin added that he’s frustrated by the state legislators making it more difficult to put stricter gun laws in place.
"It also came at a time where the state is continuing to make it harder for cities to take illegal guns off of the street. Just that same day, we were battling with the state and there was a new ruling out. So we are frustrated but we will not give up. This is our responsibility to keep our residents safe but we also know that we can't do it alone,” Hardin said.
Columbus’ Office of Violence Prevention released a statement Monday stating, “The recent incidents in the city saddens us and OVP wants the community to know that we are focusing on evidence-based strategies to create sustainable change in our efforts to make Columbus the safest big city in the country. We are actively assessing the violence prevention space and utilizing every available resource to promote citywide prevention efforts and collaboration on addressing issues. Early next year, we will release a complete plan of violence prevention initiatives for 2024.”
Of the 143 homicides this year, 106 of those cases have been solved so far.