Residents of a Columbus East Side neighborhood that was the scene of a fatal mass shooting early Independence Day expressed mixed emotions July 7 about what the city should do next.
Cameron Moore, 17, was one of six people shot at around 2:40 a.m. on Independence Day at a party at a short-term rental home in the 800 block of Wilson Avenue, just south of East Livingston Avenue.
Columbus police said at a July 7 press briefing that hours before the shooting, they had warned partygoers about noise from the music and people loitering in the street. Police made no arrests and issued no citations during that initial visit.
Courtney Riley, a resident who lives directly across the street from the house, told The Dispatch she saw “hundreds” of what appeared to her to be teenagers hanging out at the front of the home, upstairs, and even on the sidewalk. She said she also saw a drunk teenage girl wandering up and down the block.
“I had a feeling that something was about to happen,” said Riley, who was up at the time to greet her husband as he got home from work.
Around 2:40 a.m., Riley said she heard multiple gunshots and immediately called 911. According to Riley, the gunshots sounded like gunshots from different guns fired by several people.
Riley said that her stepdaughter was at the party and that she ran home when the shots rang out. Riley said she saw medics wheeling victims out of the home on stretchers and teenagers jumping from the second floor of the home to escape the gunfire, damaging a gutter that was attached to the home while jumping from the house.
When The Dispatch visited the home on July 7, there was dried blood in the shape of footprints on the front porch.
Riley, who grew up on the city’s South Side and has lived on Wilson Avenue for three months, said it was not the first time there were gunshots at the short-term rental home where the party was held. Although the shooting early Independence Day rattled her, she said it wasn’t enough to make her move out of the neighborhood.
She expressed frustration over how quickly teenagers and young adults are to draw guns to settle a dispute.
“We would fight when we were young. (These kids) shoot now,” said Riley.
Gretchen Orr, 62, who lives several houses down from the short-term rental home and has lived in the neighborhood for eight years, told The Dispatch on July 7 that she was surprised that the shooting even happened because the neighborhood is usually quiet.
“It’s concerning because it’s a nice neighborhood, and people are friendly,” Orr said.
Orr said that short-term rentals and the ability for teenagers to access guns are part of a wider problem of violence in Columbus. At the same time, she said she’s unsure of what the city could do that would alleviate the problem. Parents need to start being aware of where their children are, she said.
“We can save my street by having less (short-term) rentals, but that won’t help these kids,” said Orr.
Ginther says city might tighten regulations for short-term rentals
Mayor Andrew Ginther said that Columbus City Council members could be asked to take legislative actions to address problems with short-term rental companies, but he was scant on details. Ohio Republicans have previously sought to create limitations on how local governments can regulate short-term rentals.
Council President Shannon Hardin expressed support for better regulating short-term rentals, but said that this was only part of the problem.
“Council spearheaded regulation of short-term rentals in the past, and I would support updating those rules to crack down on party houses,” Hardin said in a July 7 statement issued by his office. “But that is just the start — everything should be on the table to fight for safety and preserve quality of life as we become a big city. I also want to take a hard look at how we police entertainment districts and commercial centers, manage large-scale events and festivals, and intervene with juvenile offenders and young people.”
As of July 7, police had not publicly identified any suspects in connection with the mass shooting in which Moore and two other victims were transported to hospitals. Three other victims arrived at hospitals through private transportation. None of the victims besides Moore sustained life-threatening injuries.
To date, there have been 42 homicides reported in Columbus this year, down from 58 at this point in 2024 and 84 in 2023. Deputy Police Chief Justin Coleman said that Columbus police have a 78% solve rate, which is above the national average of around 50%.
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of a street name.
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Neighbors express concern, shock in wake of shooting at July 4 party that killed 1, wounded 5
Reporting by Shahid Meighan, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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