Ethiopian immigrant Feven Adugna, age 20 and female, was shot and killed on the afternoon of August 31, 2025, in Cincinnati’s Mount Washington neighborhood. Police were called around 1:30 p.m. to the 1500 block of Beacon Avenue and found four people with gunshot wounds. Two victims died at the scene; two were taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where one later died.
The victims were identified as sisters Eden Adugna, 22 and female, and Feven Adugna, 20 and female, along with their friend Bemnet Deresse, 27 and male. The shooting shattered a close-knit Ethiopian community that had watched the sisters grow up after immigrating to the United States as children.
In the days that followed, mourners gathered near the apartment complex for a candlelight vigil, sharing memories of the young lives cut short and reflecting on the hopes the sisters carried into their studies and work. Friends and co-workers described Eden and Feven as kind and hardworking pharmacy technicians at Good Samaritan Hospital, while those who knew Bemnet remembered a quiet, studious young man with a new job ahead of him. The sense of loss rippled through the community as families prepared for funerals and burials, supported by an outpouring of grief from neighbors and the broader city.
Detectives identified the gunman as Samuel Tyler Ericksen, 26 and male. According to the Cincinnati Police Department, Ericksen sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound during the incident on August 31 and died on September 2. Investigators later disclosed that Ericksen had a “romantic interest” in one of the young women and that a 911 call concerning him had been made on August 8, 23 days before the shootings, details that deepened the tragedy for the families who had sought help. The official homicide investigation remained active as police asked anyone with information to come forward.
There were no arrests in the case; the identified suspect died from his injuries. Authorities publicly named all three victims—Eden Adugna, female, age 22; Feven Adugna, female, age 20; and Bemnet Deresse, male, age 27—and confirmed the sequence of emergency response at the Beacon Avenue address. The city’s Ethiopian community, faith leaders, and hospital colleagues honored the victims in vigil and prayer, marking a collective grief that was as public as it was personal.
