16-year-old ID’d as youth found dead on sidewalk

FATAL SHOOTING

The 16-year-old youth found shot to death on the East Side on Thursday morning was identified as Marquelis Shaquan Barnes, Columbus police said.

Officers were initially called just before 2 a.m. on a report of a shooting at a BP gas station at 3140 E. Main St. at South James Road, said homicide Sgt. Jeff Strayer, who oversees third shift. Two groups of young men were fighting in the parking lot when someone pulled a gun and opened fire. It’s unclear whether the shooting was gang-related.

A wounded 17-yearold was found and taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center in stable condition. He suffered non-lifethreatening injuries. Police were not releasing his name Thursday because he is considered a witness.

The teen told officers that he did not know what happened to his 16-year-old friend.

After police had secured the scene for about an hour, someone walked over to the crime scene tape and told officers there was a body lying on the sidewalk nearby in the 600 block of South James Road. The teen was pronounced dead. His death marks the 66th homicide for the city so far this year.

Several callers reported hearing multiple shots shortly before 2 a.m.

“Fifteen to 18 shots, at least,” a man said.

“This was not fireworks,” a woman told a dispatcher.

City curfew requires youths 13 to 17 years old to be off the streets from midnight until 4:30 a.m. Children 12 or younger must be home by one hour after sunset. Parents or guardians who let their children stay out past midnight could face a neglect charge that has a maximum 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

In 2008, thenMayor Michael B. Coleman ordered the increased enforcement of the curfew law, especially in the summer. The city has had a curfew for minors on the books since the mid- 1970s.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Columbus Police Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730.