Now
49
Wed
51
Thu
50
by Isabelle Hanson
TOPICS:
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — There's a new program in a Columbus neighborhood that involves credible tips being exchanged for cash.
Central Ohio Crime Stoppers and the Ohio Crime Prevention Association launched a new initiative to reduce gun violence in central Ohio, and they're targeting Wedgewood Village Apartments first.
Members of both organizations, police officers, and community leaders visited the apartment complex on Tuesday and put door hangers on apartments. The door hangers ask residents to submit an anonymous tip if they see someone shooting a gun.
"I get kind of scared, you know for my life," said a Wedgewood resident.
Leaders of the initiative said they're focusing on high-crime areas.
So far in 2025, Columbus police have reported 72 felony assaults in both Wedgewood and the Hilltop combined. Data reveals 29 of those remain unsolved. So far, police have not responded to any homicides in Wedgewood this year.
"If they didn't have those challenges, we really wouldn't be here now," said Napoleon Bell, President of Central Ohio Crime Stoppers. "They have their challenges, but they also have a good foundation who's working on those challenges and so we want to be able to help where we can."
Bell said any anonymous tip that leads to an indictment or arrest will be rewarded with cash.
"If you see something, you say something," said John DiPietro, President and CEO of the Ohio Crime Prevention Association. "Hopefully, everybody is motivated by their civic duty, and if they're not motivated by their civic duty, then there's some money that will motivate them also."
They're asking for tips not just on shootings but also shots fired in the Wedgewood area.
"Chief Bryant of the Columbus Division of Police has said a non-fatal shooting is just a homicide that just happened, not to happen," said Malissa Thomas St. Clair, founder of Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children. "So in order for us to continue this reduction in crime, we do urge our city and beyond to be vigilant in saying something."
From her personal experience of losing her son to gun violence, St. Clair said she knows the importance of speaking up.
"I'm a mother who lost a child to homicide, and if it wasn't for somebody saying something, my offender would have never been caught," St. Clair said. "So please give these families the justice they deserve."
Anonymous tips can be submitted to Central Ohio Crime Stoppers by calling 614-461-8477 or visiting the organization's website.
The organizer of the new initiative said they plan to expand it to more neighborhoods throughout central Ohio in the future.