Violent weekend in Columbus leaves two dead and three injured

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Violence broke out in two Columbus neighborhoods on Saturday night and early this morning.

The first incident occurred on the east side of Columbus.

Neighbors told 10TV that a graduation party was underway on North Ohio Avenue around 11 p.m. Saturday when police arrived and found three people shot. A fourth victim was taken to the hospital himself.

One Johnson, 39, died of his injuries. The three other victims, a man and two women, are expected to survive, according to Columbus police.

At around 12:30 a.m. Sunday, police responded to a home on Woodsedge Drive in the northeast part 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 any of the incidents and police are still investigating the circumstances that led to the violence.

After this weekend’s shootings, the city has a total of 38 murders this year. That’s still fewer than the same period last year, when the city had already recorded 71 murders.

“There has obviously been an increase in shootings in the last week or two. We are cautiously optimistic, our numbers are still very low compared to last year. One is way too many, we don’t want any shootings in the city,” said Sergeant Joe Albert. “But we are optimistic, working closely with our community partners, we are seeing strong cooperation from our residents coming forward with tips and reaching out to investigators.”

As summer begins, the CPD is implementing a number of measures to keep crime levels low.

This weekend, Columbus Police launched the Safe Streets initiative, mobilizing more officers on foot and bicycles to patrol neighborhoods.

“It will be difficult for you to encounter a police officer in the city, and that is a good thing,” said Sergeant Albert.

Columbus Police are working overtime to ensure they have more support staff available this summer.

“It just gives us more personnel to deploy when we see a large gathering of people somewhere. We can station officers in those areas to watch for anything that might happen,” Sergeant Albert said.

While CPD implements these practices, the department also encourages parents to watch over their children and keep them on the right track.

“Parents, we ask you to watch your children,” said Sergeant Albert. “The police cannot raise your children. Everyone talks about proactive policing. We need proactive policing to prevent crime. We need proactive parents. You need to know where your children are at all times, who they are hanging out with, and you need to keep an eye on them so they don’t get involved in the violence in our city.”