Ohio capital again tallies record number of homicides for year

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio's capital city has tallied a record number of homicides for the second straight year, with several killings reported in Columbus in this week alone.

The fatal shooting of a man on Friday afternoon in a neighborhood on the city's south side marked the 179th homicide in Columbus this year, The Columbus Dispatch reported. A drive-by shooting in an east-side subdivision had killed a teenager two days earlier.

With those deaths, and a month still left on the calendar, the city already has surpassed the adjusted tally of 177 homicides recorded in 2020.

Columbus police tried to address the increase in part by making changes meant to help detectives respond to killings more quickly. Homicide investigators were reassigned to work daytime hours on the department's first shift as part of a pilot program, with teams on call to respond if needed at other times of the day.