Columbus councilmember points finger at GOP Statehouse for city's mass shootings

At a meeting Monday evening, a member of the Columbus City Council blamed the GOP-controlled Ohio Statehouse for the shooting in the Short North early Sunday that injured 10 people, including two boys between the ages of 16 and 18.

Councilmember Emmanuel Remy took his allotted time to speak on any subject at the start of the meeting to call the shooting "entirely unacceptable," showing that the city's continuously increasing investment in thwarting such incidents, "with 10 officers on that block, cameras everywhere" can't solve this problem alone.

"When people ask, I look a block away, at our legislators, who have made carrying a gun easier than driving a car," Remy said. "It's the proliferation of guns on our streets that have made incidents like this occurring more often not only in Columbus, but across the nations."

The tens of millions of dollars that the city invests in police overtime and summer youth programs won't solve the problem of youth violence, Remy said. He called on parents, religious leaders and others to do their part.

"These are our streets, just remember that, and we're not going to tolerate this anymore," said Remy, who chairs the council Public Safety & Criminal Justice Committee.

A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the shooter or shooters responsible for injuring 10 people in the Short North early Sunday. Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives at 614-645-4373 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS. All calls to Crime Stoppers are anonymous.

wbush@gannett.com

@ReporterBush

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Councilmember Remy: Short North mass shooting unacceptable