Columbus city and law officials are asking for any information about the killing of a 17-year-old girl at the Far East Community Recreation Center Thursday night.
Makenzi Ridley was transported to Mount Carmel East Hospital in critical condition, where she died. Police do not currently have a suspect.
Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said over 100 kids were gathered at the Far East Community Center for a pop-up event that was shared on social media.
Bryant, whose first day was Friday, said the police department knows that there were multiple people responsible for the shooting that killed Ridley. She added that if people have information about what happened, they should come forward with it.
"This is somebody's daughter, somebody's sister, somebody's niece," Bryant said. "If this was your family, you would want justice."
In fact, Makenzi was the daughter that people would have wanted, said Bryan Steward, her grand-uncle. He described her as someone who was bubbly, smart and someone who cared for every person that she met.
And on her free time, holidays included, she spent her time serving in local soup kitchens, Steward said.
"If you have a daughter or someone that you love, Makenzi represented this," Steward said.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said the city will continue to work with law enforcement to place officers in places they believe are hotspots for criminal activity, as well as increase security at pools, community centers and parks.
"We owe Makenzi better. We owe one another better. We owe each other a safer, stronger city," Ginther said.
Ginther added that he has asked Bryant on where allocations of resources can be made to prevent killings like Ridley's. But he said solving gun violence in the city is not an overnight process.
"This is a crisis plaguing cities, mid-sized and large cities, across America," Ginther said. "We believe access to guns is a problem."
In May, a 16-year-old was shot and killed at Bicentennial Park during an unpermitted party. The suspect in that case is still unknown.
