A Columbus man was killed when he was shot point-blank in the chest and once in the back after an argument this morning, witnesses said.
Police arrested the suspected shooter, Ranzino Ahmad Harris, age and address unavailable, less than an hour after the shooting at a home at 1415 Schoolhouse Ave., off Military Road three blocks south of North 14th Avenue. The suspect left the scene, and police said he turned himself in at the Columbus Police Department. The homicide, the second in the neighborhood in less than a month, happened around 9 a.m.
Witnesses identified the victim as Justin Murry, 21. According to witnesses, Harris got into an argument with a woman at the home; it was unclear if she was his or Murry”s girlfriend. Harris was restrained by Murry and another person during the argument, and he left.
Some time later, according to Pericia Lee, 23, a relative of Murray”s, Harris returned with a gun of unknown caliber. Murry opened the front door of the Schoolhouse Avenue home to find Harris on the porch, who put the gun in Murry”s chest and fired at point-blank range, according to witnesses. Murry turned away, and Harris shot him again in the back, witnesses said. Another man, Michael Brewer, 21, had his middle finger shot off; it was unclear how many times Harris allegedly fired the gun.
Distraught family members crowded the scene of the shooting, a short street tightly lined with one-story homes and front porches. Ward 5 Councilman Kabir Karriem was seen comforting one woman who was overcome with grief. Another ambulance was called to the scene to give aid to family members.
The homicide was the second in Columbus this year, and the second in less than a month. Just blocks away, at 1603 Seventh Ave. N., Quentin Antonio “Que” Spencer, 20, of 455 Merry Valley Drive in Columbus, was killed in an April 20 shoot-out at the Everyday Club and Lounge, which also injured three others. No one has been arrested in that shooting.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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