On Saturday, after a man and woman were seen running away from a two-story house in Columbus, Ohio, and a bit later a woman seated on the sidewalk near the house screamed that she had been shot, police arriving at the South Linden house found four bloodied bodies in the house, two men and two women.
The Columbus Dispatch quoted police Sgt. David Sicilian of the homicide squad asserting, “It’s littered with four bodies, and it’s a pretty ugly scene inside. We obviously have a homicidal suspect out here who’s not afraid to kill somebody. We need to quickly find out who that is or the persons responsible for this.”
The dead included two men and two women; the woman on the sidewalk was taken to Grant Medical Center, where she was later released.
A bystander, Thomas Pringle, saw the woman sitting on the sidewalk screaming, “They are dead, they are dead! Oh my God, they are dead! I’m shot!”
One man told the Dispatch, “It’s a tragedy. My dad and sister got killed in the basement, and my other sister is in the hospital,” then walked away in anger, although police would not confirm whether the man was telling the truth.
Police responded after receiving a call at 7:26 a.m. about the woman on the sidewalk. They found two of the dead bodies in the basement. Around 1 p.m., another woman was taken away by police after she came out of the house crying.
Spectators numbered over 100; one woman told the Dispatch, “It looks like a reunion. I’m just glad it’s peaceful.”
About 1 p.m., another hysterical woman was led from the crime scene by police after she emerged from the house, sobbing.
In 2014, Columbus had 89 homicides, 78 of whom were shot. 24 of the victims were 21 or younger; 75 percent were black, according to the Dispatch.