One person dead after shooting in Columbus' King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood

Shahid Meighan, Columbus Dispatch
Updated ·1 min read
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Columbus police surround the area of North 20th Street and Mt. Vernon Avenue in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood with crime scene tape Tuesday evening, Dec. 5, 2023, while homicide detectives investigate a fatal shooting.
Columbus police surround the area of North 20th Street and Mt. Vernon Avenue in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood with crime scene tape Tuesday evening, Dec. 5, 2023, while homicide detectives investigate a fatal shooting.

A 66-year-old man died Tuesday evening after a shooting in Columbus' King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood on the Near East Side.

An online police report identified the victim as 66-year-old Robert L. Kelly, who lived in King-Lincoln Bronzeville.

Columbus police Cmdr. Mark Denner said police responded to a reported shooting about 6:20 p.m. in the the 300 block of North 20th Street near the intersection of Mt. Vernon Avenue.

Denner, who heads the Columbus Division of Police's Homicide Unit, said responding officers found one person suffering from a gunshot wound in the courtyard area outside Mount Vernon Plaza shopping center.

Medics transported the victim to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, Downtown, where they were pronounced dead at 6:39 p.m., according to Columbus police dispatchers.

Columbus police are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred Tuesday night on the 300 block of North 20th Street near the intersection of Mt. Vernon Avenue in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood. A police commander said the victim was found lying with a gunshot in a courtyard outside the Mt. Vernon Plaza shopping center.
Columbus police are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred Tuesday night on the 300 block of North 20th Street near the intersection of Mt. Vernon Avenue in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood. A police commander said the victim was found lying with a gunshot in a courtyard outside the Mt. Vernon Plaza shopping center.

Denner said homicide detectives and forensic crime scene investigators were going over the area for evidence, canvassing for witnesses, and looking for any video footage from nearby businesses or home security.

Detectives were on the scene for several hours. The investigation into the shooting continues.

The deadly King-Lincoln Bronzeville shooting Tuesday evening is the 144th homicide this year in Columbus, surpassing the 143 recorded in 2017, which was, at the time, the deadliest year in the city's history. With Tuesday night’s homicide, 2023 is now the third deadliest in the city's history. There were 175 homicides reported in 2020 and 205 reported in 2021.

In early 2023, Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther touted a 30% decline in homicides from 2021 to 2022, where there were 140 deaths as a result of violence.

Dispatch reporter Bethany Bruner contributed to this report.

@ShahidMeighan

smeighan@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Shooting in King Lincoln Bronzeville leaves one dead