COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus police are searching for the suspects who they said shot two men near a North Linden recreation center Wednesday night.
Officers received a report at 9:40 p.m. of a person with a gun on Dresden Street.
When officers arrived, they found a 20-year-old man in the street who had been shot near the Fedderson Community Center. Police said the second victim, a 19-year-old man, took himself to a nearby hospital.
"It's too close to home. I wish things would change," Anthony Sigillo said.
Sigillo and his cousin, Chase Lyle, said they helped one of the victims until first responders arrived. The men said they were in the center's parking lot across from their home when they heard more than half a dozen gunshots.
"We heard about nine or eight shots. I turned around and I saw a guy fall, and I saw two guys running," Lyle explained.
10TV reported another shooting outside of a busy recreation center less than a month ago. On April 5, a man was shot during an attempted robbery in the parking lot of the Barnett Rec Center in the Eastmoor neighborhood.
While the shootings aren't connected, it's a coincidence that both happened near community gathering places.
Sigillo said it's concerning, but not quite as surprising. He shared a message to the young men involved.
"Life is precious," he said. "If you're going the wrong way, you can always turn around. If you've got breath in your lungs, you can always turn around and go the other direction. Just stop killing each other," he said.