COLUMBUS, Ohio — Six cameras at Bicentennial Park in downtown Columbus are rolling 24 hours a day.
On Saturday night, when someone opened fire killing 16-year-old Olivia Kurtz, detectives thought a key piece of evidence may have been lost with those cameras.
It turns out, detectives couldn’t access the surveillance video because of a wiring issue, but the videos were preserved.
Late Monday, the city explained what happened after Mayor Andrew Ginther said the cameras were not working at a press conference earlier in the day.
“We did determine that the cameras were recording, and the video has been preserved," said Kerry Francis, chief communications officer for the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department. "The connection to allow the footage to be viewed remotely was down, the cameras were working."
Francis said, as with any system like this, there is going to be maintenance. The connection had been down for a few weeks and when the issue was discovered, it was added to a list of maintenance.
"Because the restrooms and fountain are currently closed, maintenance on open facilities was prioritized,” she said.
Francis says the cameras at the park focused on the restrooms and fountains, the areas of the park where there are security concerns.