Three people shot, one fatally, outside Glenwood Community Center in Hilltop neighborhood

Crime scene tape cordons off a large area outside the Glenwood Community Center, at left, in Glenwood Park on the Hilltop Wednesday afternoon following a shooting in which multiple people were reportedly shot.
Crime scene tape cordons off a large area outside the Glenwood Community Center, at left, in Glenwood Park on the Hilltop Wednesday afternoon following a shooting in which multiple people were reportedly shot.

Columbus police are continuing to investigate after a 24-year-old woman was shot and killed outside the Glenwood Community Center in Glenwood Park in the Hilltop neighborhood Wednesday evening.

Two other people, an 18-year-old woman and a 15-year-old boy, were injured in the shooting.

The shooting occurred around 5:20 p.m. outside the community center, which is located at 1888 Fairmont Ave., south of West Broad Street, and was one of the designated cooling centers for residents of the city of Columbus seeking relief from temperatures that reached the mid-90s Wednesday.

The gunfire created panic among those who had come to Glenwood Park for the cooling center, the city swimming pool there, or to just enjoy the park.

Map of Glenwood Park showing the community center and swimming pool
Map of Glenwood Park showing the community center and swimming pool

Police found two of the victims in a parking lot, and officers following a blood trail found the third victim several blocks west of the park by Wrexham Avenue, Sgt. Joe Albert said.

Atayia Nichols, 24, who lived in the Hilltop neighborhood, was taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center. She died from her injuries at 5:54 p.m. Wednesday. The other female victim was also taken to Grant in critical condition. Police said doctors believe that victim will survive her injuries.

The male victim was taken to Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center in stable condition.

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Assistant Chief LaShanna Potts said no suspects have been identified, but there may have been multiple shooters. Police said Thursday morning they believe there may have been a fight that preceded the shooting.

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'Everyone just started running'

Megan Sloane, who lives on East Broad Street on the East Side, told The Dispatch that the power was out at her house so she brought her children to the pool at Glenwood Park for them to cool off. She and the children left briefly when the pool was scheduled to be temporarily closed to get food with her family at a nearby McDonald's restaurant.

When they returned, she said someone was talking about another person waving a gun.  She and the children went into the pool area, and moments later heard multiple shots.

"So everyone just started running and we ran all the way over to the fence and laid down," Sloane said. "And it was just craziness everywhere and people was running for cover."

Sloane said she and her children waited until the police came, then she went to her car. As they got there, a person who had been shot near her car was being lifted onto a gurney, she said.

Police cordoned off the area near the community center as well as roadways in the park with yellow crime scene tape.

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Bernita Reese, director of the Columbus Department of Recreation and Parks, was seen at Glenwood Park Wednesday afternoon after the shooting.

The shooting at Glenwood Park is the fifth at a different city park since April 23, thus far resulting in a total of four dead and four wounded.

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On April 23, 20-year-old Masonique Saunders was shot and killed at Saunders Park on the Near East Side, and 19-year-old Damarion Dawson was killed at Nafzger Park on the Southeast Side.

On May 4, 19-year-old Jessey Osorio was killed and a 17-year-old male was wounded after a shooting in a parking lot outside the community center at Westgate Park.

Columbus police said 19-year-old Jessey Osorio was killed and a 17-year-old male was wounded in a May 4 shooting outside the community center at Westgate Park.
Columbus police said 19-year-old Jessey Osorio was killed and a 17-year-old male was wounded in a May 4 shooting outside the community center at Westgate Park.

On May 14, an 8-year-old girl was wounded after a shooting during a fight in Weinland Park.

Police were not on scene when the Glenwood Park shooting occurred, Albert said, but responded "within minutes."

The special duty park patrols by police authorized by Columbus City Council are on weekends, not weekdays. Police officers have been assigned special duty at cooling centers, though it was not immediately clear if there was an officer at the Glenwood Community Center.

"We're everywhere that we can be with the resources we have," Potts said, "but we're diligent in moving our resources around and we will go back to the table to see if we can do things different. But right now we're doing what we can."

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The FBI and Columbus police have offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in connection with the May 2021 mass shooting at Bicentennial Park during an unauthorized, after-hours DJ concert at the Downtown park that was organized on social media. Olivia Kurtz, 16, was killed, and five other teens were wounded.

Dispatch reporter Bethany Bruner contributed to this report.

cbehrens@dispatch.com

@Colebehr_report

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Glenwood Community Center shooting: 1 killed, 2 wounded in Columbus