Shot 6-year-old boy in ‘grave condition’. Columbus police chief asks public for help

A firm Columbus Police Chief Stoney Mathis lashed out Wednesday at a recent wave of violence in the city following the shooting of a 6-year-old boy who is fighting for his life.

“I’m absolutely tired of my officers getting called out every night for people shooting each other,” said Mathis. “Put down the guns, stop breaking into cars, and let’s make Columbus a safe community like it was in the past.”

“If you have any of these young thugs out there with the guns, you need to call the police department and let us put them in jail,” Mathis added.

His plea for the public to help came as authorities announced that a six-year-old boy had been critically wounded by gunshot.

And that came after the area experienced two homicides over the weekend and a man died Tuesday from a shooting that occurred two weeks ago.

CPD Deputy Chief Lance Deaton identified the 6-year-old victim as Cameron Thomas and said the child was in “grave condition”. Officers responded around midnight to the 4500 block of Tracy St. and found Thomas unresponsive and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, according to Deaton.

Deaton said the child was playing with a truck in the driveway when he was shot.

Makaliah Briscoe, 22, has been arrested as a suspect in the incident, according to Deaton. There will be a continued investigation on the shooting and more arrests are anticipated, according to Deaton.

Deaton asked for the public’s help in helping to address the violence occurring in the city. “It’s important that if you see something, if you hear something, that you say something,” said Deaton.

Columbus has recorded 17 homicides so far this year, according to a list compiled by the Ledger-Enquirer.

This time last year the city had experienced 24 homicides, according to another list compiled by the Ledger-Enquirer .

CPD said that 14 of the 17 homicides this year have been classified as murders. Deaton said two of the homicides not currently listed as murder cases are listed as death investigations pending additional investigation with the other case being listed as an involuntary manslaughter.