Overnight shooting leaves teen dead in Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - The Columbus Police Department is investigating an overnight shooting that left a teen dead.

Columbus police were dispatched to the scene at 2:20 a.m. Sunday in reference to a shooting. Upon arrival, police say 14-year-old Jaleel Rasheed Ali was discovered with at least one gunshot wound. The Muscogee County Coroner’s Office says the victim was pronounced dead at 3:50 a.m.

The shooting happened in the 3900 block of Calhoun Drive, according to information obtained by the coroner’s office and Columbus police. The teen’s body will be sent to the GBI Crime Lab for an autopsy.

Police say no arrests have been made.

Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson tells News Leader he believes the violence the Fountain City is seeing lately starts with an altercation between people who know each other and they decided to hash out their differences by picking up a gun.

“It makes me sick, it really does, it keeps me up at night,” said Mayor Henderson. “I mean I keep my phone by the bed, and whenever there’s any kind of shooting, the police chief contacts me. It’s hard to wrap to your head around the fact that these young people who have not yet developed the maturity that’s necessary to understand the finality of death.”

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Sergeant Thomas Hill at 706-225-4345 or him at THill@columbusga.org. Anonymous information can be given by calling 706-653-3188 or by texting VACS plus your message to 274637.

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