Jusiah Mason, 18, a male Black teenager from Columbus, was shot in the early morning hours of June 14, 2025, during a chaotic burst of gunfire near South Ludlow Street and West Town Street downtown. Police said officers were dispatched around 3:15 a.m. to a scene where a large crowd had gathered; multiple victims were found, and more later arrived at hospitals on their own. Mason was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and, despite efforts to save him, was pronounced dead at 12:36 p.m.
the next day. Seven other people—five adults and one juvenile with gunshot wounds, plus another juvenile with non-gunshot injuries—were treated, and detectives appealed for witnesses and any videos or photos from the area to help piece together what happened.
In the first days after the shooting, investigators emphasized that several individuals had produced and fired weapons before fleeing, and they described a crowd of roughly 50 to 80 people in the area as calls flooded 911. The homicide unit took the lead immediately because of the severity of Mason's injuries, while officers canvassed the blocks south of West State Street and west of South High Street for surveillance footage and other leads.
Within ten days, police named a suspect: 19-year-old Mohamed Fofana. Court documents and police statements indicated that surveillance footage helped identify a blue 2017 BMW X3 as a vehicle linked to the gunfire and that investigators tied that SUV to Fofana. According to an affidavit described in local reporting, he boarded a flight to Atlanta the day after the shooting; a warrant for his arrest was issued June 20. He was arrested on June 24 and charged with murder in connection with the death of Jusiah Mason, 18.
At Fofana's first court appearance, a judge set bond at $3 million, and conditions included surrendering his passport after authorities noted he had purchased airline tickets, including one to Ethiopia, following the shooting. News reports placed his next hearing in early July as the case advanced, while Columbus police continued to urge anyone with information to come forward as they worked to determine who else had fired weapons that night.
