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Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Yahoo
Four people injured, one critically, in drive-by mass shooting on Columbus' East Side
One person is in critical condition and three other people were injured in what Columbus police say appeared to be a drive-by shooting Thursday evening on the city's East Side. A ShotSpotter alert notified police to several rounds of automatic gunfire in the 480 block of Kimball Place. Moments later, a 911 caller reported that there were several people who were shot. One of the victims was transported in critical, life-threatening condition to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, Downtown, according to a Columbus police 911 dispatcher. Two other victims were transported to local hospitals in stable condition, including one who was grazed in the shoulder. Witnesses who were at the scene told Columbus police that multiple vehicles were seen in the moments leading up to and after the shooting. One of the victims described a silver or white minivan, and other witnesses described a gray Dodge Challenger. The description of the vehicles has varied among witnesses. Columbus police have closed off streets in the area and are continuing to interview witnesses. Shell casings outside have been marked and police are reporting on radio the recovery of bullets from inside some homes. Police are also going door-to-door to see if anyone has Ring camera footage that might help identify the suspects, who drove off from the scene. This is a breaking news story. Check back at for updates. smeighan@ @ShahidMeighan This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Four shot, one critically, in drive-by shooting on Columbus' East Side
USA Today
11-02-2025
- USA Today
JD Vance's 'Hillbilly Elegy' among books used in Ohio prison drug smuggling scheme
JD Vance's 'Hillbilly Elegy' among books used in Ohio prison drug smuggling scheme Show Caption Hide Caption Top headlines of the week, Feb. 7 2025 Here are some stories you may have missed on and in the Columbus Dispatch newspaper. A Maumee man faces criminal charges that accuse him of spraying pages of books with drugs and smuggling them into a northeast Ohio prison, including Vice President JD Vance's "Hillbilly Elegy," according to federal court records. Austin Siebert is charged in U.S. District Court in Cleveland in connection with the scheme, which federal officials said involved trying to recruit people at multiple prisons to receive packages containing drugs. Siebert used something called the "Amazon Technique" to get the drug-soaked books into the Grafton Correctional Institution in Lorain County, court records say. The technique involves ordering books from a store like Amazon or Barnes and Noble online, printing a receipt to make a book appear purchased from a legitimate retailer and then canceling the order. Related article: Rash of contraband smuggling at Lancaster prison exposes workers to chemicals The person outside the prison ships a separate physical copy of the book using the falsified shipping label to the prison soaked with drugs, in many instances synthetic marijuana, according to court records. The process lends the appearance that the book came directly from a legitimate online retailer. In November, court records say Siebert received a phone call from a Grafton inmate. Siebert used his real name on the calls and when registering for a messaging system with inmates. In the call, Siebert told the inmate he drove 45 minutes to mail a package, which court records say was done to avoid being caught on video at a post office near his home. On Dec. 3, Siebert contacted the inmate to let them know the package had been delivered. In a phone call that was recorded that afternoon, court records say Siebert specifically referenced Vance's "Hillbilly Elegy" as having been sprayed with drugs. Siebert called the book — a memoir that depicts Vance's mother's struggles with opioid addiction — a "(expletive) romance novel" in the call. Prison officials intercepted the package containing a copy of Vance's book and a GRE study guide. The books were taken to a lab for analysis, court records say, and the last 10 pages of Vance's book tested positive for two separate synthetic cannabinoids. In December, Siebert also sent a book, "Corrupting the Innocent" by P. Rayne, which is described as a mafia-style forbidden romance, to a different inmate. Court records say several pages of the book were visibly discolored and soaked in drugs. Around the same time, Siebert began sending messages to inmates he knew at the Allen/Oakwood Correctional Institution in Lima and London Correctional Institute, asking if he wanted to be involved in the scheme, according to court records. Siebert also told inmates he was making his own equipment to rebind books after soaking pages with drugs more efficiently, court records say. Police executed a search warrant at Siebert's home in Maumee and found a book that appeared to have pages soaked in drugs, a loaded handgun, several bags with drugs, including fentanyl and cocaine, and Amazon mailing labels. Police also found a machine believed to have been used to rebind the books, court records say. Siebert is currently being held in detention. bbruner@
