The string of gun-crime plaguing the city of Columbus has left the city with a record homicide rate on a fast-track to surpass the prior year’s deaths. Within the span of half a year, a total of 81 homicides were documented. Of the victims who tragically lost their lives, two of them were as young as sixteen-years-old.
Young Olivia Kurtz was killed during a shooting at Bicentennial Park on a Saturday night, and not even a week later sixteen-year-old Ty’Sean Finch was killed while walking down West Broad Street with his uncle. In response to these horrific murders, the public cried out for someone to put an end to these homicides.
Rallies have been organized to “Stop the Violence”, with families of the victims calling for justice for their slain loved ones. The Members of the Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children were at the forefront of the rally. Co-Founder Karla Harris expressed her concern at how the city was treating these murders.
These kids are getting younger, and younger, and younger, and you would think that's a trigger out here in the community, because it could potentially be their child, my child.
With the community writing from the string of violence and the victim’s friends and loved ones mourning their loved ones, something needs to change within the city of Columbus. So far, other than stating that they will prioritize particularly dangerous 911 calls, the police haven’t made it clear what they intend to do to cut down on the number of homicides in the city.
If some real changes aren’t made soon, then the rate of homicides will only grow larger and larger, reaching unprecedented numbers and leaving more and more people with an empty spot at the dinner table. No one can ever bring back the people they lost, but it’s up to the city and its officials to ensure that this doesn’t become a pattern behavior for the future.