COLUMBUS, Ohio — Violence interrupted two neighborhoods in Columbus late Saturday night and early Sunday morning.
The first incident happened on the east side of Columbus.
Neighbors told 10TV a graduation party was underway on North Ohio Avenue around 11 p.m. on Saturday when police responded and found three people had been shot. A fourth victim transported themselves to the hospital.
Ein Johnson, 39, died from his injuries. The three other victims, one man and two women, are expected to survive, according to the Columbus Division of Police.
Then around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, police responded to a home on Woodsedge Drive on the northeast side of the city and found 18-year-old Da’Mya Cummerlander with a gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead about 15 minutes later.
No suspects have been arrested in either incident, and police are still investigating the circumstances that led to the violence.
This weekend’s shootings bring the city to a total of 38 homicides this year. It remains lower than this time last year when the city had already recorded 71 homicides.
“Obviously we have had an uptick in shootings in the last week or two. We are cautiously optimistic, our numbers are still very low compared to last year’s one is way too many we don’t want any shootings in the city,” said Sgt. Joe Albert. “But we are optimistic that we are working closely with our community partners we are seeing a lot of cooperation with our residents calling in tips reaching out to detectives.”
As summer gets underway, CPD is using some tools to keep crime down.
This weekend, Columbus police launched the Safe Streets initiative, mobilizing more officers on foot and on bikes to patrol city neighborhoods.
“It is gonna be hard for you to be out in the city and see a police officer which is a good thing,” Sgt. Albert said.
Columbus police are using overtime officers to have more help available this summer.
“It just gives us more manpower to pull personnel if we see a large gathering somewhere, we can put officers in those areas to watch out for anything that might happen,” Sgt. Albert said.
While CPD puts these practices in place, the department is also encouraging parents to look after their children and keep them on the right track.
“Parents we are asking you look after your children,” Sgt. Albert said “Police cannot raise your kids everyone talks about proactive policing we need proactive policing to help with crime, we need proactive parenting. We need you to know where your kids are at all times, who they are hanging out with, and keep a close eye on them so they don’t get caught up in violence in our city.”