COLUMBUS – Ohio State University and Columbus police have been forced to address what they describe as “rumors and misinformation” surrounding the shooting death of a student over the weekend.
An 18-year-old man was arrested on a murder charge in connection with the shooting death of Chase Meola, a 23-year-old student from New Jersey, early Sunday following a disturbance at a party on E. 14th Avenue.
Neither agency has received any credible reports of retaliatory gang activity in neighborhoods near campus and a video circulating on social media is from a separate shooting in another part of town, according to a statement from Monica Moll, director of OSU’s Department of Public Safety.
“No credible sources of the investigation have linked the rumors or reports to any actual threats,” Columbus police Chief Thomas Quinlan.
The Columbus Division of Police is the agency investigating the crime because it occurred in its jurisdiction, Moll said.
Columbus police personnel searched the crime scene and the surrounding area for evidence, which led to an increased law enforcement presence and at one point asked neighborhood residents to stay inside so as not to disrupt the evidence-gathering process, Moll said.
Police officers have been more evident since the crime as Columbus police is increasing patrols and adding special duty officers in the areas surrounding campus “out of an abundance of caution” and OSU police are conducting “high visibility patrols on campus,” Moll said.