COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The two children who were gunned down in front of a Columbus, Ohio apartment building one week ago may have been targeted in a triple homicide, police said Tuesday.
Det. Terry Kelley said the shooting that left Londynn Wall-Neal, 6; Demetrius Wall-Neal, 9; and Charles Wade, 22; dead was a planned attack. He showed a picture as evidence of a Nissan Altima from model years 2010-12 with the rear license plate removed.
During an update Tuesday, Kelley said whoever fired the gunshots knew the two children were inside the car, saying it is unclear if the shooters intended for the children to die, but added it’s clear the shooters didn’t care.
“With the children, in all intents and purposes, being targets of this, I would hope that our community would band together and say, ‘This is not OK,'” Kelley said. “I would hope that our community would come forward and say, ‘We will not allow this violence to happen to these kids.'”
Kelley is asking for the public’s help and further tips that could lead to the discovery of the Altima or of the people involved.
The shooting took place Dec. 7, with the three victims being shot while inside a car in the 6600 block of Kodiak Drive. Once officers arrived, they attempted life-saving measures, but the three died shortly after.
Kelley said the suspect’s car was in the apartment complex during the day. The shooting, which didn’t happen until that night, appeared to be planned. Someone may have seen who was inside the car during that time, he added.
After the shooting, Assistant Chief LaShanna Potts told the media “enough is enough” with gun violence in the city. The next day, Mayor Andrew Ginther said “it can never be normal” for children to become homicide victims, and Kelley took the unusual step of publicly giving out his phone number to solicit tips.
“All the evidence that we have at the scene indicates that this is not a random act,” Kelley said last week. “It does appear to be a targeted assassination, and there’s no other way to say it.”
Anyone with information on this case can contact CPD’s Homicide Unit at (614) 645-4730, Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at (614) 461-8477, or Det. Kelley at (614) 778-9706.
