A person was rushed to the hospital in critical condition after being shot along Seymour Avenue in southeast Columbus on Sunday night, in an attack that remains under investigation. Columbus police officers found the victim suffering from gunshot wounds just before 10 p.m., and the shooting has become the latest flashpoint in a violent stretch for the city's East Side.
Dispatch logs reviewed by 10TV show officers were called to the 900 block of Seymour Avenue at approximately 9:50 p.m. Sunday, where emergency crews located the critical shooting victim. That pinpointed time and location refine the more general account from WSYX, which first reported that the shooting happened along Seymour Avenue just before 10 p.m. and that the victim was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. As of this reporting, it remains unclear whether detectives have identified a suspect or a motive, and whether ShotSpotter or Flock camera evidence was recovered from the scene, per 10TV.
The shooting is not the first sign of trouble on that stretch of road. On July 27, less than two weeks earlier, Columbus police were dispatched to 1114 Seymour Avenue after 911 callers reported five armed individuals inside a building, according to dispatch audio tracked by the Citizen app. Residents along the corridor have pushed back against gun violence before — WOSU Public Media reported that Seymour Avenue neighbors organized anti-violence vigils back in August 2020, after firearm possession in the neighborhood became widespread.
A Violent Stretch Across the East Side
Sunday's shooting capped a particularly volatile first week of August for Columbus' East Side. Two days earlier, on August 7, a standoff near East Livingston Avenue and Simpson Drive left a police officer grazed by a bullet during an exchange of more than 20 shots with a suspect armed with two handguns, Hoodline previously reported on the officer shot.
Just two days before that, on August 5, police responded to another non-fatal shooting in the 2000 block of Maryland Avenue, where an early-teen victim was shot in the face, according to WSYX. Police identified a juvenile suspect in that case. Over that same weekend, Hoodline also reported on a non-fatal juvenile shooting where investigators expressed doubts about the reported scene at Laraine Court, and on an unsolved shooting on Teakwood Drive in north Columbus that left one person hospitalized.
Crime Falls Citywide, But Homicides Tick Up
The East Side's recent run of gunfire stands in contrast to broader citywide numbers. Data from the Columbus Division of Police's Criminal Intelligence Unit, published in July, showed total Part 1 major crimes — including murder, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, and motor vehicle theft — fell to a 10-year low of 678 incidents between January 1 and July 15, a 33 percent drop from the 1,010 recorded over the same period in 2025, according to CNAW2News.
Yet homicides have edged upward. Columbus recorded 50 homicides by July 28, outpacing the 46 homicide victims recorded by the same date in 2025, per ABC 6. That figure remains far below the city's record peak of 205 homicides in 2021, which had dropped to 81 by 2025.
City's Response to Non-Fatal Shootings
City leaders have leaned on a targeted strategy to keep non-fatal shootings like Sunday's from turning fatal. Data presented by the City of Columbus in March showed an 18-month pilot program dedicated to investigating non-fatal shootings raised case clearance rates to 92 percent in targeted pilot zones, compared to a 51 percent citywide clearance rate. Mayor Andrew Ginther has announced plans to expand that pilot to additional police zones this year.
Those efforts come as the department faces significant staffing pressure. Reporting from April indicated the Columbus Division of Police has operated more than 200 officers below its authorized strength of roughly 1,900 officers, a deficit that has persisted since 2020 and affects patrol coverage and response capabilities across districts, according to Omnilert. Meanwhile, Ohio's Senate Bill 215, in effect since June 2022, allows eligible adults statewide to legally carry a concealed handgun without a permit, background check, or mandatory safety training — a law that gun safety groups and law enforcement leaders continue to evaluate for its impact on municipal gun violence.
No arrests have been announced in connection with the Seymour Avenue shooting, and the case remains under investigation.
