Warming center closes following stabbing

A warming center for people who are homeless near the campus of Ohio State University closed Monday after two men were stabbed and injured earlier this month.

Since December, those in need of shelter have been able to find it at the former Summit on 16th United Methodist Church, 82 E. 16th Ave., one of two round-the-clock warming centers operated by the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless.

But the site has drawn the ire of nearby Ohio State students and their parents, who have complained that some of those who stay there have caused problems and threatened the safety of those who live nearby.

Those safety concerns came to a head on the evening of Feb. 10 when two men staying at the warming center were hospitalized after a suspect entered the building and stabbed them both. The men were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, but the violent incident prompted the church, which leases the building to the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless, to shutter the warming center, said Jim Rose, a coalition board member.

Columbus police were dispatched to the warming center after 6 p.m. Feb. 10 after the stabbing was reported, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Franklin County Municipal Court. Witnesses told detectives that a suspect, seemingly unprovoked, walked inside and began attacking the victims with a knife.

Although the man fled the scene, witnesses and the victims identified the suspect from a photo array, leading to a warrant being issued and his arrest a day later, according to the affidavit. The 32-year-old man — who was known to staff, Rose said, but had not been staying at the facility — has been charged with two counts of felonious assault, court records show.

“As far as we can tell, this was extremely random,” Rose said.

Call logs provided by the Columbus Division of Police show that police are routinely dispatched to the warming center near the heart of the University District.

So far in 2023, police have responded more than 30 times to the warming center on reports of disturbances, fights, trespassing, overdoses and other complaints, according to police records. Police also were called to the shelter 11 times in December.

Katie Berberick, a 21-year-old senior studying fashion and retail at Ohio State University, is among students who live near the warming center who say they have felt unsafe since it opened.

Berberick lives with a roommate in an apartment building across the street, where she said she’s noticed people whom she recognized from the warming center trespassing inside, using the communal laundry facility and even stealing packages. As one of the few students living near campus during the winter break, Berberick said she grew even more wary of her surroundings.

“I felt unsafe even being in my apartment because I didn’t know if I even walked outside if someone would be in the building,” said Berberick, who is from Lewis Center. “I was on edge for a long time because everyone else was still gone for break.”

While Rose said the coalition’s members take such concerns seriously, he pointed to statistics showing that crime is trending downward across Ohio State’s campus in the past year.

Within a one-mile radius of Ohio State, there have been 78 incidents so far this year across the three major crime categories of aggravated assault, residential burglary and robbery, according to the university’s Community Crime Map.

Within the same period in 2022, there were 101 such incidents.

Rose wondered if that dip could at least partially be attributed to the fact that the coalition was offering a stable place to stay for those with nowhere else to go.

The coalition had rented the space from the Summit on 16th church since December to run the warming center, located east of North High Street near Graham Elementary and Middle School. Along with the Broad Street United Methodist Church at 501 E. Broad St., the warming center was one of two of the coalition’s 24/ 7 operations.

With a capacity of 50 people during the day, up to 30 individuals could spent the night at the center, Rose said, offering a crucial respite from harsh winter conditions.

But as the worst of the cold months wind down, Rose said the coalition has no immediate plans to open another warming center.

Staff and volunteers at the warming center worked to connect homeless individuals there with other resources and places to go, Rose said.

“We had community, we had family, and the center provided a warm, dry spot for people to go,” Rose said. “Some of those individuals will and have found other locations to go to, but we know that this closure has drawn people back to be under bridges, under overpasses — spots not meant for human habitation.” elagatta@dispatch.com @Ericlagatta