Police plead for help after 4 deaths
Killings took place in a 9-hour span Thursday
Within a nine-hour period on Thursday, Columbus police homicide detectives were called to four fatal shootings, raising the death toll in 2021 to 153 homicides. One of the shooting victims is the son of a Columbus police officer.
The victims of Thursday’s killings were all men, leaving behind loved ones that grieve their loss and police begging the community to get frustrated and step up to help solve crimes.
“We’re exhausted, we’re tired,” Columbus police Assistant Chief Lashanna Potts said Friday. “We are not going to continue to tolerate this.”
Shooting near campus prompts security alert
The first killing on Thursday occurred in the University District, prompting a safety notice to be issued for students living off-campus near Ohio State University.
Columbus police were dispatched shortly after 3 p.m. after receiving a report that a man was shot behind an apartment building on the 1900 block of North 4th Street, about a mile east of Ohio State’s campus.
The victim, 24-year-old Quinten Fuller, was found outside between 19th and 20th avenues and was transported to a nearby hospital, where he died at 3:40 p.m., said Lt. Wade Spears.
Police have identified 26-year-old Kaliaf Ivory, of South Linden, as a suspect in the case. An arrest warrant on a murder charge has been filed for Ivory, according to Franklin County court records.
Fuller is the son of an officer Myisha Brothers, according to Sgt. Bryan Steel. Brothers formerly worked in police communications before successfully completing the training academy and becoming an officer.
Ivory and Fuller knew each other, according to court records, and were in an ongoing dispute because Ivory was living with Fuller’s ex-girlfriend. Detectives stated in court records that Ivory was seen on video entering the apartment building shortly before the shooting and leaving immediately after the shots were fired.
The death, which marked the grim milestone of 150 homicides in Columbus this year, was quickly surpassed in the hours afterwards.
‘Why did it have to be my son?’
Less than three hours after that shooting, police were sent to an apartment complex on the Far West Side on a report of another shooting. When officers arrived on scene around 5:40 p.m. at the Autumn Springs Apartments, located off the west side of Norton Road, they found24-year-old Bryce Persang in the passenger seat of a Honda Fit. One of the 911 callers said she heard what sounded like a single gunshot or very loud firecracker and was concerned because it was coming from near a playground area in the apartment complex. She said she couldn’t see anything, but opened her door a little to hear what was going on and heard a woman screaming, “I can’t believe you just shot someone!”
Persang died at a nearby hospital shortly after 6 p.m., police said.
His mother, Katherine Persang sat on the stoop of her Far West Side apartment Friday, her whole body trembling and tears streaking down her face and dripping from her chin as she spoke of this summer’s unrelenting killings in Columbus.
“I would see the stories, and I would cry for all those mothers. I would pray for all those mothers. I would ask how they were supposed to ever go on,” she said. “And now I’m one of them. Why? Why? Why? Why did it have to be my son?”
It was about 3 a.m. Friday when Columbus detectives knocked on her door to say that her son had been shot.
The shooting happened at the entrance to the Autumn Springs Apartments, which is only a mile from 52year-old Katherine Persang’s own place. One of her daughters, before leaving for work Thursday, had heard all the sirens.
Police had named no suspects and made no arrests in the case as of midafternoon Friday.
While searching for answers and trying to focus on the grim tasks that lie ahead when one must bury a child, Persang smiled even through her tears as she spoke of her youngest of two sons, the one of her four children probably most like her, full of empathy and compassion.
“He was a sensitive soul,” Katherine Persang said. “Bryce cared and he was loyal. He loved and he loved hard — oh, he especially loved his sisters. They were like the three Amigos.”
Then, she lost control of her tears again as another wave of grief overcame her. She hadn’t, after all, seen her son in two years because he’d fallen away from the family. He carried a lot of anger about life, Persang said, and she employed a tough love approach in recent years.
“He wasn’t some misfit,” she said, hugging her body and rocking back and forth as she stared off into the distance, her mind recalling better times. “Bryce saw something redeeming in everyone he knew. That meant something. His soul was good. He was just lost. We all get lost sometimes.”
She looked around her own neighborhood and asked of no one in particular: “How do we stop this violence? When did it become so easy to take a life?”
She paused, then added: “When did we stop being human?”
‘How many more funerals?’
It’s a question Columbus police are asking as well. Assistant Chiefpotts stood outside police headquarters Downtown on Friday afternoon and asked when the community will start holding its own accountable.
“How many more funerals? How many more mothers crying,” Potts said, noting that detectives have charged 44 people with firearms related crimes since Sept. 1.
Around 10:30 p.m., detectives were called to a carryout on the 1500 block of East Main Street on a report of a man shot. The 47-year-old victim, who is expected to survive his injuries, had been shot outside and sought help inside a carryout after the shooting.
Commander Robert Strausbaugh said police believe that shooting and two others that occurred within about 90 minutes in a two-mile stretch of the Near East Side are the result of arguments and are not random. He said the 47-year-old man’s will to survive was clear as detectives began piecing together what happened.
“Seeing this human being (on video) crawling on the sidewalk, it hits you hard,” Strausbaugh said. “He wasn’t even able to open the door to the carryout, he had to knock on the door.”
The second shooting was reported at 10:54 p.m. Thursday on the 600 block of Gilbert Street. The victim, who has not yet been publicly identified, was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
Less than an hour later, police were called to the intersection of East Main Street and Nelson Road on a man who was lying in the street. Officers performed CPR on the man, who has not yet been identified, but he died a short time later at an area hospital.
On Thursday, Columbus homicide detectives identified a man who was hit and killed by a car Sunday afternoon on the Northeast Side. Kaine Ratcliff, 26, was found dead in an alley west of the 2600 block of Beulah Road.
Police had been dispatched shortly before 2 p.m. that day on a report of a pedestrian who had been hit by a vehicle. Ratcliff ’s death is being investigated as a homicide, police said. No suspect has been identified, although police are seeking to interview a person seen on surveillance camera near the scene.
This year already stands as the city’s second-deadliest in history after three men were killed during the weekend. And if the killings continue at the current pace, Columbus will easily surpass 2020, the deadliest year on record with 175 homicides.
“Only the trigger pullers can decide not to pull the trigger,” Deputy Chief Tim Becker said Friday, asking for the community come forward with information in all the cases police are investigating. “Your silence may allow another mother to lose a baby.”
Mayor Andrew J. Ginther said Friday that the city is continuing to work on a comprehensive approach to solving crime that includes innovative approaches, including adapting throughout the year as the violence has continued.
“Just having more officers on the streets won’t prevent the violence,” Ginther said. “It’s part of it but we can’t put all of our city’s problems on the backs of our officers.”
Potts said Friday that officers and detectives are continuing to work tirelessly to keep the community safe.
“Don’t just tell us we need to do better,” Potts said of city residents. “We’re telling you, you need to do better.”
Anyone with information on any of the homicides can call the Columbus Division of Police’s homicide unity at 614645-4730 or report an anonymous tip to the Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614461-8477.
Dispatch reporters Eric Lagatta and Mark Ferenchik contributed to this story. bbruner@dispatch.com @bethany_bruner hzachariah@dispatch.com @hollyzacariah elagatta@dispatch.com @Ericlagatta