What we know about the Easton Town Center shooting on Sunday night

Columbus Dispatch
Updated ·4 min read
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One person is dead after a shooting at Easton Town Center on Sunday evening, outside the main mall building.

Two 13-year-olds have been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting.

Here is what we know.

15-year-old who was killed at Easton Sunday was role model; calming presence in family

Ra'Shawyn Anthony Carter Jr. was the rock in his large family, a calming presence and someone the younger kids looked up to.

Ra'Shawyn, 15, was fatally shot on Sunday evening at Easton Town Center. Two 13-year-old males have been arrested by Columbus police in connection with his death.

Columbus police identify 15-year-old killed in Easton Town Center shooting

A 15-year-old teen is dead and two 13-year-olds are behind bars after a shooting Sunday evening at Easton Town Center.

Columbus police identified the victim as Ra'Shawyn Carter.

'Someone has been shot': 911 calls detail panic, chaos during Easton Town Center shooting

The first call, which was received by dispatchers at 6:12 p.m. Sunday, was from a woman near the Amazon Style store in the mall area. She tells dispatchers she saw a teenager "body slam" a security guard at the mall and that the guard likely needed help.

About halfway through the call, yelling can be heard as well as someone in the background mentioning a gun. The woman gathers herself and continues speaking with the dispatcher.

"They just said there’s a gun in the mall, like near Amazon Style," the woman says. "I think we heard something. We’re all huddled in the bathroom."

Two 13-year-olds arrested in connection with fatal shooting at Easton Town Center

A teenage boy is believed to be the person killed after a shooting at Easton Town Center on Sunday evening that was an "isolated incident," Columbus police said.

Two 13-year-olds have been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting. One has been charged with delinquency murder and another with a delinquency count of obstructing justice in Franklin County Juvenile Court.

Sgt. Joseph Albert said the victim died at 6:50 p.m. at Mount Carmel East hospital. The victim's age has not been confirmed, however, he is believed to be under the age of 18. The victim's identity will not be released until their family has been notified.

Both boys appeared in court on Monday.

Aug. 27, 2023; Columbus, Oh., USA; One person is dead after a shooting at Easton Town Center on Sunday evening, outside the main mall building. Mall stores close at 6 p.m. on Sundays but the movie theater was still open. Sunday was National Cinema Day and AMC Easton 30, the movie theater at the mall, was offering $4 movie tickets all day.
Aug. 27, 2023; Columbus, Oh., USA; One person is dead after a shooting at Easton Town Center on Sunday evening, outside the main mall building. Mall stores close at 6 p.m. on Sundays but the movie theater was still open. Sunday was National Cinema Day and AMC Easton 30, the movie theater at the mall, was offering $4 movie tickets all day.

Here's why the kids accused in Easton shooting won't go to adult court

The juveniles accused of the shooting death at the Easton Town Center in Columbus will not go to adult court but instead will stay in juvenile court.

Ohio law prohibits 13-year-olds from going to adult court, even in serious violent felony cases. That's not true once a child is a little older.

Aug. 27, 2023; Columbus, Oh., USA; One person is dead after a shooting at Easton Town Center on Sunday evening, outside the main mall building. Mall stores close at 6 p.m. on Sundays but the movie theater was still open. Sunday was National Cinema Day and AMC Easton 30, the movie theater at the mall, was offering $4 movie tickets all day.
Aug. 27, 2023; Columbus, Oh., USA; One person is dead after a shooting at Easton Town Center on Sunday evening, outside the main mall building. Mall stores close at 6 p.m. on Sundays but the movie theater was still open. Sunday was National Cinema Day and AMC Easton 30, the movie theater at the mall, was offering $4 movie tickets all day.

Could the parents of teens charged in fatal Easton shooting face criminal charges?

Ohio law has three ways in which parents can be sued for their child's actions. The easiest way for them to be held civilly liable is under a statute that only requires proving the parent is in fact the custodial parent of a child that intentionally, purposefully or maliciously injured another child. In those cases, the damages are capped at $10,000.

Parents can also be held liable if they are found to be negligent, either through general negligence or by giving them access to a dangerous instrument, like a firearm or a parent giving their child the keys to a car when they aren't of legal driving age.

Aug. 27, 2023; Columbus, Oh., USA; One person is dead after a shooting at Easton Town Center on Sunday evening, outside the main mall building. Mall stores close at 6 p.m. on Sundays but the movie theater was still open. Sunday was National Cinema Day and AMC Easton 30, the movie theater at the mall, was offering $4 movie tickets all day.
Aug. 27, 2023; Columbus, Oh., USA; One person is dead after a shooting at Easton Town Center on Sunday evening, outside the main mall building. Mall stores close at 6 p.m. on Sundays but the movie theater was still open. Sunday was National Cinema Day and AMC Easton 30, the movie theater at the mall, was offering $4 movie tickets all day.

What is Easton Town Center's policy on minors? 

Easton Town Center doesn't allow unaccompanied minors on its grounds. On Sunday night, a shooting left one minor dead and two 13-year-olds arrested and charged.

According to Easton's website, "children under the age of 16 may not be on property unless accompanied and supervised by a parent or legal guardian over the age of 21 at all times."

An Easton security vehicle sites outside the Levi's store at Easton Town Center Monday morning after a victim who is believed to be a teenage boy was shot and killed at Easton Sunday night. Two 13-year-old have been arrested in connection with the shooting.
An Easton security vehicle sites outside the Levi's store at Easton Town Center Monday morning after a victim who is believed to be a teenage boy was shot and killed at Easton Sunday night. Two 13-year-old have been arrested in connection with the shooting.

'It's not worth it:' Some shoppers won't return after Easton shooting, others feel safe

Easton's shooting marks the third summer in a row of gunfire in a Columbus shopping center, and the latest in a string of such shootings throughout the nation.

Retail establishments are the second-most-common sites of mass shootings, behind workplaces, according to the Violence Project database. Between 1966 and 2000, 29 mass shootings took place in U.S. retail sites. Nine of them occurred between 2016 and 2020, including a 2019 shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, that left 23 people dead.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Easton Town Center shooting: What we know