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

A fight between teenagers Sunday evening at Easton Town Center in Columbus escalated to gunfire, leaving one teenager dead and two others facing criminal charges.

The shooting occurred around 6:15 p.m. Sunday in an outdoor area of the shopping, dining, entertainment, residential and office complex located along the south side of Morse Road west of Interstate 270. The victim, a male whose name has not yet been released by Columbus police, died at 6:50 p.m. at Mount Carmel East hospital.

Sgt. Joseph Albert said a Columbus police officer who was working a special duty assignment at Easton responded to the scene within a minute of the shooting and started performing CPR until paramedics arrived.

Easton: What we know about the Easton Town Center shooting

Two 13-year-olds have been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting. One has been charged with delinquency murder and the other with a delinquency count of obstructing justice in Franklin County Juvenile Court. The Dispatch is not naming the teens at this time because of their ages.

In hearings on Monday afternoon in Franklin County court, Magistrate Greta Huna ordered the teen charged with delinquency murder to be held in the county's juvenile detention center. His next hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

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Prosecutors said the teen charged with murder, who did not appear in person during the hearing, is accused of killing the victim and hiding the weapon in a restaurant trashcan while running away from the scene.

Under Ohio law, murder is one of the charges where a teenager can be tried as an adult. However, Ohio does not allow anyone under the age of 14 to have their case transferred, so the 13-year-old's case will stay in juvenile court.

The second teen, who is charged with felony obstruction of justice, was released by Huna and required to wear an ankle monitor. Prosecutors said that teen lied to officers who were questioning him about where he was during the shooting. Officers were later able to confirm the teen was at the scene of the shooting and involved "in some capacity," prosecutors said.

The teen released on ankle monitor was ordered to not have any access to social media and can go to classes. His next hearing will be in September.

Columbus City Schools confirmed Monday that both suspects are current students in the district, but did not release their grade levels or the school they attended.

Columbus police, leaders call for accountability

Mayor Andrew J. Ginther promised the community on Sunday that those responsible would be held accountable.

"We're going to identify and capture all who were involved," Ginther said. "We will not allow these shootings to diminish our sense of safety."

Ginther and Columbus police Chief Elaine Bryant also called on state legislators to take action on gun safety regulations.

"These are people who should not have guns in the first place," Asst. Chief Greg Bodker said, referencing the young ages of the victim and possible suspects in Sunday's shooting. Ohio law prohibits the purchasing or possessing of a handgun by anyone under the age of 21.

Ginther assured the community on Sunday that Easton and other shopping and lifestyle centers like Polaris Fashion Place, where two shootings occurred in 2021, are safe.

"These are both places I go to regularly," Ginther said. "But what has happened is disturbing and unacceptable. It's the type of shootings and violence we're seeing in neighborhoods throughout the city that increasingly are involving more and more juveniles."

John Fortney, spokesman for the Ohio Senate Republicans, said the mayor shouldn't be scapegoating the legislature for the tragedy.

"When crime is out of control in Columbus look no further than the mayor’s office," he said in a statement. "Criminals, juvenile offenders and thugs don’t check the revised code before committing car jackings, armed robberies and shootouts at malls. They are already breaking the law. The mayor, city council and the city prosecutor should back the police, keep criminals in jail and find some political backbone instead of political excuses, and simply do their jobs."

On Monday afternoon, City Council President Shannon Hardin issued a statement also calling for accountability and the community to unite.

"We will not allow incidents like this to become the norm in Columbus," Hardin said. "We are a resilient community, but this senseless violence involving youth needs to stop."

Witness said people ran after hearing gunshot

James Jones, 29, who works at Easton said he was outside taking a smoke break near Rusty Bucket Restaurant and Tavern when he heard a gunshot, and someone told him to run indoors.

"That's when everyone ran (shouting) 'They're shooting, they're shooting,'" he said.

A security officer told a Dispatch photographer at the scene there were many teens and young adults at the mall Sunday, adding it was more than they'd ever seen.

Sunday was National Cinema Day and AMC Easton 30, the movie theater in the mall store at the complex, was offering $4 movie tickets all day.

Easton Town Center releases statement

Easton management released a statement Sunday evening.

"There is no longer an active situation," the release said. "A weapon was fired at Easton at an outside area of the North District at approximately 6:15pm. At this time, Columbus Police are on site."

Easton stores close at 6 p.m. on Sundays but the movie theater was still open.

Easton visitors were asked to shelter in place

Patrons who were at Easton at the time of the shooting, including at Mitchell's Ocean Club restaurant, were initially asked to shelter in place while Columbus police — with assistance from other law enforcement agencies, including the Franklin County Sheriff's Office and Gahanna police — went through the mall store by store to evacuate shoppers and employees.

Albert said the large law enforcement response was able to get the mall locked down quickly and escort employees and shoppers safely from the area.

Ramps from Interstate 270 temporarily closed

Ramps to and from Interstate 270 to Easton Way were temporarily closed during the incident as police worked to locate possible suspects, but were eventually reopened.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call Columbus police Homicide Unit at (614) 645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at (614) 461-TIPS (8477).

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 13-yr-old charged with delinquency murder in fatal Easton shooting