COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- This weekend the sun shone bright across central Ohio, but a shadow was cast after violence erupted in the city.
Five people were shot and killed and three others were injured in three separate incidents. Also this weekend, the city’s summer festival season got a rocky start with fights causing an event to shut down early.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther believes that what happened this weekend was a one-time thing. The violence the City of Columbus experienced this weekend was one of the worst so far in 2024.
“It just shows that we have to be vigilant,” Ginther said.
Columbus city leaders have been touting 2024 as a productive year for slowing violence. There has been a 50 percent reduction in homicides, according to Columbus Police data, the lowest homicide rate year-to-date in eight years.
Some said they are concerned the warm weather will bring violence with it.
The annual Taco Festival at Genoa Park was forced to close early Saturday due to large groups of teens fighting. Radio runs from Columbus Police describe the scene as “another 20 to 50 person fight.” The fights caused organizers to set an 18-and-over age restriction on Sunday after 7 p.m. and bring in a heavy police presence.
“The bottom line is that we're going to do whatever it takes to make Columbus safe, so that means we need more officers, a greater security presence and other types of things,” Ginther said about protecting summer events. “We feel like this was an isolated incident.”
Ginther said Columbus police officers have come under fire three times in the last two weeks. He said he wants to make it clear that if you come after officers, you will be held accountable.
The mayor said this past weekend is a perfect example of why the city needs to keep its eyes open.
“Well, you're going to see more security presence, I think, throughout the city,” Ginther said. “It's not about any one neighborhood or one event. We're going to continue do everything we can.”
Ginther said the city is planning to make record investments into safety initiatives for the summer. He said he will talk more about those during his state of the city address Tuesday.
