Longtime Short North resident recounts mass shooting
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A longtime Short North resident is saying enough is enough following a rash of shootings early Saturday morning that left three people dead and several others injured.
Short North resident David Hoover woke up at 2:30 a.m. to what he first thought were firecrackers, possibly celebrating Cinco de Mayo.
He soon realized, however, that what he heard was 30 to 40 gunshots on his street. Hoover looked out the window and saw someone running down the street, but then went back to bed.
When Hoover tried to leave his home Saturday morning, police had the street taped off and asked him to stay inside. While he's not ready to say the Short North isn't safe, he does want more accountability.
"I think it's overstepping it to say it's not a safe place to be," Hoover said. "Any place at the wrong time anymore could potentially not be safe. There's a lot of crazy people out with guns now."
He called on city leaders to be more responsive to the violence which is plaguing the city just four months into the year.
"I would really like a more vocal mayor, a more vocal and engaged police chief, frankly," Hoover said. "It's infuriating, and I don't see anything happening."
Both Mayor Andrew Ginther and Columbus Chief of Police Elaine Bryant did offer statements following Saturday morning's violent incidents.
“We need the state and federal government to step up, to do their part to keep guns off our streets, and if they don’t have the courage to do that then they at least need to get out of our way and let us do it,” Ginther said. The mayor is also calling for common sense safety laws and asks parents to give their children a curfew.
Bryant said gun laws changed last June and police are now seeing more weapons readily available.
"Officers were here. We had officers around, they were working, they were present. Which is why they were able to respond so quickly, because they were here. So, we need to figure out how we get control of this gun situation,” she said. “How do we get the guns out of their hands? Why is everybody walking around with a weapon?"