The map below shows every murder in Columbus since 2017. The red dots represent unsolved cases, the blue are those “cleared” by arrests. With more than 650 homicides in the past five years, the Columbus Division of Police has made arrests in a little more than one out of every two.
On Tuesday, December 7, 2021, at 6:16pm, Columbus Police Officers were called to the 6600 block of Kodiak Dr.
On arrival, officers found 22-year-old Charles Wade, 9-year-old Demitrius Wall'neal, and 6-year-old Londynn Wall'neal, all suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. All 3 victims were pronounced deceased at 6:45pm.
All three victims were seated in a vehicle, parked in the lot of the apartment complex on Kodiak Dr., when two armed suspects approached.
Both suspects began firing at the victim’s vehicle without any apparent warning or provocation.
Following the shooting, both suspects got into a waiting vehicle, which was driven by a third suspect, and fled the scene.
“This gun violence has got to stop. There is a mother now that will have to go on in her life with two young babies that she no longer get to raise,” Columbus Police Assistant Police Chief Lashanna Potts said.
“We will find these monsters who took it upon themselves to riddle a car not knowing who was inside and in the end killed two young babies,” Potts said.
The number of homicides in Ohio rose last year to its highest mark in three decades and once again exceeded the national rate, according to statistics released by the FBI. Homicide rates per 100,000 Ohioans rose 40% between 2019 and 2020, the biggest increase seen over the past 35 years.
Especially troubling was that the number of victims in 2020 who were children or teens skyrocketed as the city’s shootings and homicides continued to rise. In fact, the number of children shot in Columbus doubled, and minority children suffered most.
Columbus is now the nations 14th largest city. The largest city in Ohio, it is a place dealing with the deadly epidemic of gun violence.
And, a new study shows that Columbus is ranked 10th in the country for the highest increase of homicide rates during the pandemic. Columbus has the fifth-highest increase in homicides per capita from Q3 2021 vs. Q3 2019.
(Falycia Campbell. “Columbus among cities with highest increase in homicides, WalletHub says.” Fox 28. October 13, 2021.)
The capital city is on pace to have more murders this year (2021) than ever before. The increase is more than that of Chicago. As of October 22, police data show that Columbus murder rates have increased by 63% while Chicago murder rates have increased by 34%.
In addition to the homicides, felonious assaults are also up, with nearly 1100 so far this year, compared to 964 at this time last year. Columbus Police Command Robert Strausbaugh said if not for the Columbus Division of Fire and local hospitals, the homicide number would be higher.
“You want to know why we aren’t at 200 homicides? Because we have great trauma centers in Columbus, Ohio and we have great medics who respond with the first responding officers to the scene,” Strausbaugh said.
(Tyler Buchanan. “Ohio's homicide rate highest in decades.” Yahoo News. October 12, 2021.)
The number of homicides in Ohio rose last year to its highest mark in three decades and once again exceeded the national rate, according to statistics released by the FBI. Columbus saw a record number of homicides in 2020 (175)
(“Homicide Is Soaring In The Columbus, OH Metro Area.” 24/7 Wall St. - Columbus, News Partner. October 13, 2021.)
Research confirms the violence is largely gang-related. The Columbus Division of Police partnered with researchers at the National Network for Safe Communities (NNSC) to study more than 100 homicides from a nine-month stretch in 2020.
What they found: Seventeen active street gangs with a total of around 480 group members are confirmed to be responsible for 36% of those homicides.
Another 10% of those homicides have suspected gang-involvement, said LaShanna Potts, an assistant police chief, at a recent press briefing.
"A large percentage of the violence is being driven by a very small segment of this population (roughly .05%) " Potts said.
In most cases, the report found that individual gang members did not often kill out of the gang’s best interests but rather had their own criminal motives. Instead of the common catalysts of gang rivalries, feuds or retaliation, it seems that money, drugs or robbery were more often motivating factors.
Of the homicides studied, 66 percent of all victims and gang suspects were between the ages of 18 and 29. Of the juveniles involved in the gang-related killings, 70 percent were victims rather than the killers. There have been 163 homicides in 2021 in Columbus, 13 away from surpassing last year’s record 175 killings.
(Eric Lagatta Marc Kovac. “Report claims 17 gangs with about 480 members behind nearly half of Columbus 2020 homicides.” The Columbus Dispatch. October 06, 2021.)
Homicides Spiking Everywhere
Homicides are rising at a record pace in the United States. The spike in homicides came during a tumultuous year. The COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools and left millions of Americans out of work. Footage of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer rattled confidence in American law enforcement and sparked nationwide protests. Firearms sales soared, and tens of millions of new guns proliferated across communities nationwide. Here is a look at the states where gun sales are surging.
(“Homicide Is Soaring In The Columbus, OH Metro Area.” 24/7 Wall St. - Columbus, News Partner. October 13, 2021.)
Some experts speculate that each of these factors likely played a role in rising homicide rates nationwide. While it may be years before the precise causal factors are identified, many U.S. cities are bearing the brunt of the rash of deadly violence. In metropolitan areas across the country, the increase in homicides last year eclipsed the national surge — in some cases, many times over.
To determine the 25 most dangerous cities in Ohio, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data on violent crimes from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer. Cities and towns with a population of at least 2,500 were ranked based on the number of violent crimes reported in 2020 per 100,000 residents.
Data on population and property crimes also came from the FBI. Supplemental data on median household income and poverty rate came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey and are five-year estimates. (Nationwide, these are America’s 50 most dangerous cities.)
Cleveland is ranked #1 most dangerous in Ohio, followed by Canton and Dayton. Believe it or not, by the criteria above, Portsmouth ranked #10. Columbus came in at #15.
10. Portsmouth
>
Violent crimes in 2020: 694.8 per 100,000 (140 total)
>
Property crimes in 2020: 4,664.8 per 100,000 (940 total)
>
Median household income: $28,840
> Poverty rate: 5.4%
>
Population: 20,151
15. Columbus
>
Violent crimes in 2020: 555.6 per 100,000 (5,064 total)
>
Property crimes in 2020: 3,130.4 per 100,000 (28,530 total)
>
Median household income: $53,745
> Poverty rate: 0.7%
>
Population: 911,383
(Maria Wood. “25 Most Dangerous Cities in Ohio.” 247wallst.com. November 21, 2021.)
An investigation by Channel 10, WBNS (November 2021) found were areas Columbus where police have historically had a hard time making arrests.10 Investigates identified more than a dozen “dead zones” or “no arrest zones” where unsolved murders have been closely clustered together and arrests are few.
WBNS reports: “To put it another way, if you are killed in Columbus, the chances of police solving your case may depend just as much on where it happened as who did it.”
Their report added, “At a time when everyone is talking about increased violence in America, our investigation found that a street code that pushes retaliation and silence over cooperation with police could be the lynchpin in keeping many of these case unsolved – robbing families of justice.”
(Bennett Haeberle. “Interactive map shows Columbus homicides over last 5 years, reveals clusters of unsolved killings.” WBNS 10. November 3, 2021.)
Conclusion
If you're like me, you remember the old days of traveling from Scioto County to Columbus to shop, eat, and enjoy entertainment. From its beginnings as a cow town, Columbus has grown and continues to grow and grow, causing one observer to say …
“Today, Columbus is experiencing the kind of growth spurt you associate with the chugging of steroid-laden Muscle Milk. We’re creeping toward a million residents, the most of any city in the state, far outnumbering our few remaining bovine. More people live inside the city limits than in Boston, Denver, or Nashville, a fact not lost on a company called Amazon that put us in the running for its second headquarters. These days, Columbus – 'Cbus' to the hipsters – is a place the millennials are moving to as developers reshape the region with thousands of new condos and apartments.”
“And while it doesn’t seem possible to squeeze in a single more brewpub or micro distillery, it appears that a new one is announced almost every week. On top of all that, a city built by Irish and German immigrants is experiencing new waves of visitors, with large populations of Mexicans, Bhutanese-Nepalis, and Somalis pouring into town and reinvigorating entire neighborhoods.”
(Andrew Welsh-Huggins. “Columbus, Ohio: From Cowtown to Crimetown.”
Yet, like many American cities, the streets are awash with guns and people who turn them on each other with depressing regularity. Columbus is also an epicenter of the opioid epidemic, swamped with heroin and the even deadlier fentanyl as dealers flood the city. As indicated above, the city has a serious gang problem.
Today, the present danger in Columbus requires caution. A visitor should know where to go and where to avoid. For example, recent crime has led to new safety initiatives to be put in place in the Short North, according to a release from the Short North Alliance. The group said the Short North area has seen about a 25% increase in crimes reported to Columbus police compared to the same time last year.
(“Recent violent crime prompts new safety initiatives in Short North.” 10 TV Web Staff. September 3, 2021.)
The top 5 most dangerous neighborhoods in Columbus as published by AreaVibes, are the following:
1. Franklinton
2. Fort Columbus Airport
3. Olentangy River Road
5. Weinland Park
(“Most Dangerous Neighborhoods In Columbus, OH.” www.areavibes.com. 2021)
ABC 6 (April 2021) reported about how likely is your risk of getting shot in Columbus. Here are their findings:
If you live in South Linden, your chance is one in 85
The odds in Franklinton, one in 123
The Livingston Avenue area, one in 137
Greater Hilltop, one in 34
In Clintonville, the probability of you taking a bullet, 1 in more than 30-thousand
(Tara Morgan. “A call for help from people who live in Columbus neighborhoods at high risk for shootings.” ABC 6. April 29, 2021.)
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