An unidentified suspect shot a 16-year-old teen to death in Quality Inn and Suites on Trimble Road on Tuesday.
As per reports, the employee heard multiple gunshots inside a room. The police went to the murder scene after receiving an emergency call from a hotel employee at 10:45 a.m.
When investigating the murder scene, officers found the victim lying, unresponsive, in the building’s staircase.
“It appears the victim sustained multiple gunshot wounds,” said the MPD in a press release.
Bob Ball, Richland County Coroner’s Investigator, explained that the authorities pronounced the 16-year-old victim dead at 11:16 a.m. He confirmed the victim was a teenager, though he said there was no more detail about the case.
“I can tell you it’s a shooting. I can tell you it’s a juvenile. That’s pretty much what I can tell you at this point,” Ball said as he left the hotel parking lot.
Assistant Chief Jason Bammann described the incident as a “targeted shooting.” Bammann later revealed that the victim was a local boy.
The body would be moved to Montgomery Country for an autopsy. Mansfield police department revealed that they have several indications that the culprit might know the victim.
Suspect identifying progress
Joining the investigation, the police department’s crime lab went to the hostelry. The department responded to the scene to investigate the shooting incident.
Detectives are trying to find the culprit’s motives and what led to the shooting, along with identifying the number of possible suspects. The detectives later explained that they were in an active investigation.
“Details are very limited as this is an active and fluid investigation,” the MPD press release says.
On the other hand, Bammann described the situation as the police having “decent leads” on this case as the city’s first six homicides of 2023. As per reports, Bamman later noted that the police were already working on six unsolved murders.
Anyone with information on the case should call Detective Terry Butler at 419-755-9791.