One Killed in Shooting Near Columbus Mosque; Police Say Mosque Wasn't Target

One person was killed Monday afternoon in a shooting near a mosque on Columbus's Northeast Side, police said, stressing that the house of worship was not the target and the gunfire had no connection to a funeral taking place inside, local media reported.

Columbus police received the report at 2:11 p.m. in the 2200 block of Albert Avenue, east of Westerville Road, The Columbus Dispatch reported, citing a police dispatcher. The caller reported a group of boys shooting outside the Alrahma Mosque at 2205 Albert Ave.; the gunfire erupted a few hundred feet from the mosque.

One person was pronounced dead at the scene by Columbus Division of Fire medics. Fire officials told the Dispatch they had no information on any other victims, though Arab News, citing local media, said authorities had confirmed another victim at the scene whose condition was unknown.

"We want to make it clear this was not an attack on the mosque," Sgt. James Fuqua, a Columbus police spokesman, said at a hastily assembled news conference near the scene, according to The Associated Press.

Fuqua said the shooting occurred outside while a funeral was underway inside the mosque but was "not an attack on the mosque and not related to the funeral," the Dispatch reported. He said the shooting involved two groups of people and, according to Al Jazeera, stemmed from a dispute at an apartment building at the same location as the mosque.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives initially said on X that its agents were responding to a reported shooting "at a mosque in the 2200 block of Albert Ave," Al Jazeera reported — a description that fueled early framing of the incident as a mosque attack before police issued their clarification.

Police have not announced any suspects or a motive. Neither the police, the ATF, neighborhood officials nor the mosque immediately responded to requests for further information, the AP reported. The story is developing.