A person was shot and rushed to a hospital early Friday morning in Southeast Columbus, with Columbus police confirming the gunfire broke out along East Stewart Street shortly after 6 a.m. The victim was reported in stable condition, and no other details, including a suspect description or motive, were immediately available.
According to WSYX, police said the victim was rushed to the hospital in stable condition after being shot along E. Stewart St. The station noted that its report would be updated as more information becomes available, and as of publication no arrests had been announced.
A Corridor With a Violent History
Friday's shooting adds to a troubled record along the East Stewart Avenue corridor. In July 2023, 61-year-old James Cummings was stabbed to death in the 600 block of East Stewart Avenue, an incident detailed by Sunny 95. Years earlier, in March 2020, Columbus Police investigated a homicide in the 500 block of East Stewart Avenue after 55-year-old Marcus Ware was killed inside a home following a physical dispute, a case a 51-year-old man was arrested and charged with murder for, per WSYX's earlier reporting.
The shooting also lands just three days after Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and Police Chief Elaine Bryant announced the expansion of the Columbus Division of Police's Non-Fatal Shooting Team to Zone 3 on the West Side. That expansion followed a 94% solve rate in the program's pilot area, according to WOSU. The citywide solve rate for non-fatal shootings averaged just 53% in 2025, and police officials have said closing these cases quickly helps prevent retaliatory homicides, per WBNS 10TV.
Southeast Columbus's Recent String of Gun Violence
The East Stewart Street shooting is the latest in a series of firearm incidents that have rattled Southeast Columbus in recent months. In July, a shooting at Leader Square Shopping Center on Petzinger Road was followed by Demontae Johnson's death, and a separate shooting was also reported during a funeral. Ginther has discussed Flock Safety license-plate reading technology and specialized police squads in connection with the city's violence-reduction efforts.
Those local trends mirror a national pattern. FBI data released in August 2026 showed a 9.7% drop in violent crime nationwide between 2024 and 2025, according to Security.org. In Columbus specifically, the city had recorded 55 homicides year-to-date as of September 1, 2026, down sharply from nearly 150 homicides logged by the same date in 2021, WOSU reported. Columbus had recorded 81 homicides as of December 17, 2025.
Despite that broader decline, early-morning non-fatal shootings like Friday's remain a persistent challenge for investigators. Ohio law allows qualifying adults 21 and older to carry a concealed handgun without a permit or mandatory training under a measure enacted through Senate Bill 215 in 2022, according to the Meade Law Group. Should investigators determine a firearm was discharged from a vehicle in this case, the legal consequences would depend on the facts and applicable law.
Columbus police have not released information about a suspect or a motive in Friday's shooting, and it remains unclear whether the case will be assigned to the department's expanded Non-Fatal Shooting Team. This story will be updated as new details become available.
