COLUMBUS, Ohio — Police tape on the door of a hookah lounge on Cleveland Avenue near the Morse Road intersection is the only sign of the violence in the early morning hours on Sunday.
Officers from the Blendon Township Police Department responded to the lounge around 3:35 a.m. and found a man had been shot.
Devon Ball, 38, was taken to the hospital where he died.
The lounge is called No Cap…It’s Hookah and according to its hours, it is open from 10 p.m. Saturday nights to 5 a.m. Sunday mornings.
This shooting happened just over a week after another deadly shooting near a hookah lounge in Columbus. Three people were killed and three others were injured near Fifth Avenue and Summit Street. City Attorney Zach Klein said all options are on the table when it comes to the future of that establishment.
“Put the guns down. It is not worth it. I am telling you. I mean jail or the grave which one, I mean it is not worth it,” said Brenda Johnson.
She is a member of Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children. Her son, James, was killed in 2020. His case remains unsolved.
“When we see another victim, we relive that day and I just want them to think before they kill somebody, think of their own mother, because it is not worth it,” Johnson said.
No suspects are in custody for either shooting.
“If you seen something, say something. If you know something, say something. Like I always say, what if that was your mother, your brother, your father? It is not worth it and we need closure, we need justice,” Johnson said.
10TV reached out to the Blendon Township Police Department to ask if there have been issues at the hookah lounge in the past but have not heard back.
Anyone with information about the shooting should contact Detective Nance at 614-882-8500 or by email at bnance@blendontwp.org.