COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Columbus metro area saw a noticeably smaller amount of homicides in 2022 than in 2021, but the two years did follow some similar trends.
NBC4 compiled Columbus Division of Police public reports and cold case records to pin the city’s killings throughout the year to their location on a map. The data brings an unofficial tally of 2022 homicides to 139, which was markedly lower than the 204 in Columbus’ deadliest year on record immediately preceding it.
View the locations of Columbus’ 2022 homicides on the map below. Click on each marker to see information including the victim’s name, general location, cause of death, and date each happened. For NBC4 mobile app users, click here to view the map fullscreen.
Within the CPD records available in 2022, two homicides were unaccounted for. Columbus police also stopped tallying the year’s total number of homicides in its media releases at the beginning of December, with the killing of an unidentified victim being the last one counted at 130. However, based on CPD’s numbers for the other 11 months, the unaccounted homicides had to occur between these dates:
- Homicide 54 – May 31 to June 3
- Homicide 125 – Nov. 7 to Nov. 21
Overwhelmingly, shootings killed more people than any other form of violence in Columbus. Of the homicides in 2022 with public investigative data available, gunshots accounted for 121 of them. Police only confirmed four people as having died in stabbings, while eight had an unlisted cause of death. The trend in the method of killing was very similar in 2021, as 183 people died in gun violence compared to just five by stabbings.
The median age of the city’s homicide victims was 26 years old. Columbus’ Black residents also accounted for the majority of homicide victims in 2022. CPD reports listed 97 victims were Black, 30 were white and five were Hispanic. Six were listed as an unspecified race. The year prior saw 158 Black homicide victims compared to 37 identified as white and two identified as Hispanic.
The map’s list of homicides also includes the August police killing of Donovan Lewis, who was shot by CPD Officer Ricky Anderson in the midst of his serving an arrest warrant. A Franklin County grand jury has yet to decide if he will face criminal charges over Lewis’ death. Franklin County Prosecutor Gary Tyack said Dec. 8 that the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation had finished its investigation and passed its findings to appointed special prosecutors.
