Columbus police say a shooting Monday night in the parking lot of an east side library branch is part of an "alarming uptick" in gun violence.
At a press conference Tuesday, Chief Tom Quinlan said as of Monday there have been 39 felonious assaults in the city -- a 56 percent increase over last year. There has been an increase in the number of homicides as well. And he says the violence is hitting some groups harder than others:
The Monday night shooting happened after an altercation in the Driving Park Library parking lot. 18-year old Jeremiah Williams was killed. His two brothers, 20-year-old Anthony Williams Junior and 17-year-old Jamada Williams, are hospitalized in stable condition. Quinlan says there were more than a dozen witnesses, but no one has been willing to come forward - which is frustrating the investigation:
Quinlan says it is particularly disturbing that gun violence is already on the rise this year. He says traditionally, rates of violence escalate in the spring a summer.
