Two 21-year-old men killed in separate shootings as Columbus' 2022 homicide toll rises

Bethany Bruner, The Columbus Dispatch
·2 min read
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Crime scene tape

Columbus police homicide detectives are investigating after two 21-year-old men were killed in separate shootings on Sunday, including one whose vehicle was struck by a bullet shot from a nearby parking lot.

Around 3:50 a.m. Sunday, Kevin Sobnosky, of Mahoning County, and three other young men were driving in the area of the 1400 block of North Cassady Avenue on the city's East Side.

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Detectives said the vehicle the men were in was struck by gunfire coming from the parking lot of a Sheetz gas station, at 1485 North Cassady Ave.

Sobnosky was struck by the bullet and was taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where he died at 4:17 p.m. Sunday, detectives said.

None of the other people in the vehicle were injured. No suspects have been identified in the shooting.

About three and a half hours later, Columbus police were called about a person who had been shot at the intersection of East 19th and Gladstone avenues in South Linden.

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Officers found 21-year-old Jerry Campbell III, of the Far West Side, inside a car with a gunshot wound. Campbell was taken to Grant Medical Center, but succumbed to his injuries a short time later.

Witnesses told police Campbell's vehicle had been shot into by a man who then fled on foot. No suspects or motive have been identified in Campbell's killing.

There have been 120 homicides in Columbus in 2022, as of early Monday afternoon. Police have identified suspects in 75 cases, or 62.5% of the homicides that have taken place this year.

In 2021, the deadliest year in the city's history, there had been 172 homicides as of Oct. 31.

Anyone with information on the deaths of Sobnosky or Campbell is asked to call detectives at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-8477. Calllers to Crime Stoppers can be anonymous.

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus homicides: Two 21-year-old men killed in separate shootings