COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus police have released information about a second vehicle they say was involved in the fatal shooting of two young siblings and a 22-year-old man in early December.
Twenty-two-year-old Charles Wade, 9-year-old Demetrius and 6-year-old Londynn Wall’Neal were shot Dec. 7 as they sat in a car at the Winchester Lakes apartment complex on the southeast side of Columbus.
In the week following the shooting, investigators released information about a 2010-2012 black Nissan Altima seen at the apartment complex at the time of the shooting. Now, police say they are also searching for a 2005-2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee with dark tinted windows.
Police said hours of surveillance footage shows the two vehicles conducted surveillance on the victim’s residence throughout the day of the shooting.
In an update Tuesday, police said investigators have identified “numerous” people believed to be involved in the fatal shooting as a result of tips from the community.
“Investigators are attempting to contact many of those individuals believed to be involved and compiling several search warrants to gather additional information,” a spokesperson for the Columbus Division of Police said in the update.
Detectives have said the shooting appeared to be “a targeted assassination.”
Police initially said they believed Wade was the intended target, but Detective Terry Kelley said the children may have been targeted as well.
“What I can tell you is I believe that the shooters in this case absolutely knew that those children were in the car,” Kelley said. “Whether they were the target of that shooting or not, I can’t say 100 percent for sure, but I do believe that they knew they were in the car.”
Detective Terry Kelley has asked anyone with information about the shooting to call his personal number at 614-778-9706.