Three separate homicides under investigation after violent Sunday

Franklin County law enforcement agencies are investigating three separate homicides that occurred Sunday, including one outside a South Linden school.

Around 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Columbus police were called to the parking lot of the Hamilton STEM Academy, located at 2047 Hamilton Ave., on a report of a man who was shot inside a vehicle.

Police found the victim with a fatal gunshot wound. The victim, who was pronounced dead at the scene, had not been publicly identified by police as of early Monday afternoon pending notification of family.

A few hours earlier, the Franklin County Sheriff’s office began investigating a homicide that occurred in the Lincoln Village neighborhood in Prairie Township in western Franklin County.

Deputies were called around 11 a.m. to a housing complex on the 4900 block of Earlham Way and found the victim, who had been shot.

Chief Deputy Rick Minerd said the victim, 30-year-old Roger Bernal, of Columbus’ Far West Side, was riding a bike in the area when a vehicle drove up alongside and at least one person inside fired multiple gunshots.

Bernal, who was struck, ran to a nearby apartment and collapsed, Minerd said. He later died at Ohiohealth Grant Medical Center.

Minerd said deputies have been interviewing family members and exploring several potential leads in the case.

Columbus police are also investigating a homicide that occurred early Sunday morning on the Northeast Side.

Around 4:50 a.m. Sunday, Columbus police were called to the Columbus Square Shopping Center, located in the 5700 block of Cleveland Avenue on the city’s Northeast Side.

Fidel Corral, 42, of the Franklinton area, was found shot in the parking lot, police said. He was taken by medics to Ohiohealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, where he died at 7:06 a.m. Sunday.

Police have not released any information about a motive or possible suspects.

The shooting took place across the street from a now-closed Rooster’s restaurant that was the site of two shootings. An 18-year-old man was fatally shot Feb. 18 in the restaurant vestibule. On April 12, a waitress was wounded after someone fired multiple shots through the front window of the restaurant. The restaurant announced its closing following the second incident.

Anyone with information on any of the homicides is asked to call Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS. All tips to Crime Stopper are anonymous. bbruner@dispatch.com @bethany_bruner