COLUMBUS, Ohio — Five teenagers are facing charges after a series of crimes, ending in a shooting in a Canal Winchester neighborhood over the weekend.
The group of teens ages 13 to 16 drove a stolen car, armed with a stolen gun from Columbus to an apartment complex on Canal Winchester’s North High Street and tried to break into a car in the parking lot, according to the Fairfield County Sheriff.
Surveillance video shows the owner of that car come outside to see what was going on, and a single gun shot is fired from the stolen car, as the teens drive away.
The gunshot hit another neighbor’s SUV and no one was hurt.
A short time later, deputies found the stolen car and arrested the teens.
“They definitely have a gun they shot a house in our city,” one deputy can be heard saying on the body worn camera video. The teens were arrested while hiding in a swampy area.
“I think as a young person 13, 16 there is still time to make a change in your life, turn it around and be a positive member of community and society but this path they are going down now is not gonna lead them in that direction that is my concern,” said Sheriff Alex Lape.
He said the gunshot missed the vehicle owner by about 20 feet. In cases like this, Sheriff Lape said he is worried about the danger to the victims and the suspects as well.
“There is a culture in society that won’t tolerate that and that is my concern that they are gonna run into the wrong individual one of these times, and the driving at high speeds and things like that compromises their safety,” he said.
The woman whose car was hit said she wants the parents and the teenagers to pay for the damage.
“It is ridiculous. Parents need to get ahold of their children. At this point how do you not know where your teenagers are at? How do you not know they are out here stealing cars, damaging people’s property? That blows my mind,” she said.
Deputies are still looking into which of the teenagers fired the gun.
More charges are possible.