CPD: 2 Suspects Rob, Kill Motel Guest

COLUMBUS, Ohio—One man is dead, and another man is on the run. 

And it’s all related to a late-night shooting at a North Side hotel that was also the site of a 2005 murder.

On Saturday night, just before 10 p.m., Columbus police responded to the report of a shooting at the Knights Inn on State Route 161 at Interstate 71. 

The shooting victim, an unidentified Hispanic male, was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Homicide detectives said the victim was with two male friends inside a room at the Knights Inn when someone knocked at the door. 

Police said the suspects, a man and a woman, entered the room, robbed the three men and shot one of the men.

One woman who was staying in a nearby room heard a woman scream at the time of the shooting. 

“The scream. I’ll just never get it out of my head. It was something I’ll never forget,“ Jessica Parmer told NBC 4.

Saturday night’s was not the first murder at the Knights Inn. 

In May 2005, a man was stabbed to death at this same motel. 

The front-desk manager who called 911 to report Saturday night’s shooting said the hotel improved security after the 2005 murder. 

The front-desk manager, who did not want to appear on camera, said Saturday’s shooting was an isolated case of violence.

But neighbors in the nearby Devonshire neighborhood said the Knights Inn is a magnet for criminal activity. 

Chuck Parker, the president of the Devonshire Civic Association, is worried about shootings, drugs, and prostitution in and around the hotel. 

Parker has discussed his concerns with Columbus police and city leaders. 

He hopes conditions improve. But if they don’t, Parker would like to see the Knights Inn shut down and demolished.

“I’d rather see a field of grass sitting there, than the kind of problems we’re seeing (at the Knights Inn), because it bleeds over to the other side of (State Route) 161 and of course, into our neighborhood as well,“ Parker told NBC 4.

NBC 4’s phone calls to the city and a police spokesperson were not returned.

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