The Columbus Division of Police is expanding its Nonfatal Shoot Team to the city's West Side, where police say gun violence remains a persistent problem.
Columbus police Chief Elaine Bryant, Mayor Andrew Ginther and members of the current Nonfatal Shoot Team announced the expansion Sept. 1 at Friendship Baptist Church on the city's West Side. The division is still selecting a sergeant to lead the unit and training the detectives who will staff it, but Bryant said she expects the team to begin operating by the end of September.
"The West Side and the Hilltop are carrying a particular burden of gun violence," Rev. Dr. Scottie Aaron, the church's pastor, said as the expansion was announced. He also touted the collaboration and partnership between
the police division, the city, and several of the area's community-based organizations.
An ongoing pilot of the Nonfatal Shoot Team started in March 2024 in South Linden and Milo Grogan and modeled after the police division's Homicide Unit. Instead of just two detectives working on a shooting, the team has eight detectives and two patrol officers whose time and resources are dedicated to solely solving nonfatal shootings. Bryant previously said the goal was to "treat nonfatal shootings with the same intensity and importance as homicides."
Bryant said the goal is to have a Nonfatal Shoot Team in all six police zones.
"We're excited about this expansion because we know it works," Ginther said.
According to police data, the Nonfatal Shoot Team currently working in South Linden and Milo-Grogan – part of Columbus police's Zone 6 – had a 94% solve rate in 2025, compared to a city wide solve rate of 53% during that same year. It had a solve rate of nearly 90% through the first eight months of 2026, police said. Detectives have also filed more than 500 charges stemming from investigations from 2025, said Deputy police Chief Justin Coleman. Many of those charges are for aggravated robbery, attempted murder, and kidnapping, police said.
Coleman said the police division landed on expanding the new unit to the West Side after looking at historical crime data. Since 2023, the West Side has seen more than 900 firearm-related incidents, including 54 homicides that were the result of gunfire. In addition to shootings, the police division also took stock of the availability of police technology and resources and considered the number of firearms recovered from the area, Coleman said.
Police leadership have lauded the new team as a way to not only target the minority of shooters and people who commit crimes in the city, but also as a way to prevent retaliatory shootings and ultimately homicides. Most recently, the unit was involved in the investigation and arrests of several suspects in connection with a drive-by shooting at a funeral Aug. 17 on the city's Northeast Side.
“We know that a relatively small number of individuals are responsible for a disproportionate amount of gun violence,” Bryant said. “When we thoroughly investigate a non-fatal shooting and identify those responsible, we are not only seeking justice for that victim. We have an opportunity to disrupt a cycle of violence and potentially prevent the next shooting.”
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus to expand unit investigating nonfatal shootings to West Side
