Gang rage Rash of shootings, 4 recent deaths - police say it's getting out of control

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH ^ | Sunday, May 25, 2008 | Theodore Decker and John Futty

[Comparative Advantage]

Panicked South Linden residents flooded 911 with phone calls when the bullets started flying on May 18 near E. 18th and Cleveland avenues.

"There was multiple people with guns," one man told an operator as a woman screamed in the background. "They were running while they were shooting at each other."

"They're running through my yard, and I have a baby!" another woman said.

Police swarmed to the neighborhood and took stock of the damage.

Several houses had been hit by gunfire. Residents said that as many as two dozen shots had been fired, and detectives collected spent rounds from several guns. They found an AK-47 rifle behind a tree.

And they found Devon Rheubottom, 18, dead in an alley.

The gunbattle was the latest flash in what Columbus police say is a surge in gang violence.

"We do know that there were numerous participants, and they were all gang members," said Sgt. Eric Pilya of the homicide squad. "There was more than one gun in play out there."

Since April 7, Columbus police have investigated four homicides and several nonfatal shootings that appear to have at least some gang connections. Police say they are seeing more retaliatory violence among rival gangs.

In the first of the homicides, detectives think stray bullets from a drive-by shooting involving gang members killed 18-year-old Tiana Goins, an innocent bystander at Cleveland and Cordell avenues.

"It's getting out of control," said Cmdr. Jeffrey Blackwell of the Strategic Response Bureau.

The unrest continued Friday afternoon at Rheubottom's funeral. When a fight broke out inside the funeral home during visitation, police cleared the J. Martin Smith Mortuary on Cleveland Avenue. The funeral director canceled the services, moving them to the graveside.

[B-Chan]

Diversity is dangerous. Support the White Ribbon campaign!

[wastedyears]

Racist!

/libism

[Las Vegas Dave]

Ohio Ping!

To be added to the Ohio Ping List,
please freepmail (works best) TonyRo76 and/or LasVegasDave.

[muggs]

Wow, it's been a few years since I've been to Columbus. I guess Cincinnati is just as bad but I pretty much just stay out in the suburbs.

[Kimberly GG]

Thanks for the ping....not too far from my neck of the woods. I’m in one of the northern suburbs, near Polaris Mall, but have already begun to see gang tags in the area.

[Kimberly GG]

Police aren’t naming which gangs or races of those involved? Blood vs. crips, blacks vs. hispanics, etc? Plenty of gangs in Columbus...but I’m sure they know exactly who is involved.

[Pontiac]

What's the problem. It looks like the police are on the job doing what they're supposed to.

What we need is a return to vagrancy and loitering laws.

These gangs spend most of their time sitting and standing around selling drugs and intimidating the local populace.

If we could arrest these gang members and lock them up for 48 hours for such cause we could for one harass them and more importantly prevent them from carrying weapons on the streets. If you arrested them for loitering and found them carrying with out a CCW they would spend some time in the Gray Bar Hotel.

Unfortunately those laws I believe have been declared unconstitutional.

[Tainan]

I lived there 2 times and thought it was a pretty good place. Good neighborhoods and just an overall good 'quality of life'. Its been quite a few years since then and I've not been there in the last 10 years or so. The areas on the map, in the article link, are known bad areas. Mostly older brownstone brick apartment that have gone from bad to terrible. Problem is, this is a highly traveled area going from downtown to the northern section of the city. Its now heavily black and latino with a mix of what could be called 'white trash' thrown in for criminal diversity.
On the plus side, the Columbus PD is very well equipped both training wise and technology wise to deal with these issues.
However, Columbus is a PC controlled city. A lot of left-wing/liberal limp wrists hold positions of power. This complicates things somewhat.
Too bad, as I said, I liked Columbus quite well. Especially in the summer. A lot of good city events and festivals in the parks.