MANSFIELD — The shooting inside a moving vehicle on West Fourth Street near North Lake Park is now a suspected double homicide.
Bob Ball, the chief investigator for the Richland County Coroner’s Office, said a second victim in the June 8 shooting died Wednesday at 5:19 p.m. at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center in Columbus.
The death of Jonathan Ash, 18, marks the city’s seventh homicide of 2023. Another 18-year-old, Nathan Carroll, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Ball.
Both men are from Mansfield, according to public records.
Ball said an autopsy on Ash would be done by the Franklin County Coroner’s office. The autopsy on Carroll was done in Montgomery County, revealing he had been shot twice.
Mansfield police Chief Keith Porch said Wednesday evening there was nothing new he could report about the shootings, which occurred around 1:30 p.m.
“Detectives are actively working the case,” the chief said.
No one has reportedly been arrested in the case.
Police had received a call about a vehicle crash and gunshots on West Fourth Street and found a grey Chevy Malibu had smashed into one of the 125-year-old sandstone pillar formations at the entrance to North Lake Park.
Officers then located Ash laying next to the driver’s door on the ground. Carroll was found dead inside the vehicle.
“A witness to the crash believed the shooting occurred inside the car, which was what the evidence on the scene led us to believe,” Assistant Chief Jason Bammann said on the day of the shootings.
Others in the area told police the suspected gunman, also reportedly a young adult male, fled on foot into nearby Middle Park, which is closed to vehicle traffic.
“Patrol officers were all over the woods and parks and didn’t find anything,” the assistant chief said June 8. “We got eight different clothing descriptions from people.”
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Det. Terry Butler at 419-755-9791.
I lived in Mansfield 28 years . It was a good place to live . I moved eight years ago when my husband passed away . I am scared to death to even come and visit friends and my family . It’s so sad lives are being lost at a fast rate . My heart and prayers go out to everyone who has lost loved ones .