Columbus, Ohio: SWAT Arrests Teen in Fatal Shooting of Aaliyah Chan, 18

A Columbus police SWAT team arrested a 16-year-old on Monday, November 9, in the fatal shooting of Aaliyah Chan, an 18-year-old Columbus City Schools graduate who was killed during what police describe as an attempted robbery on the city's Southwest Side.

The teenager faces charges of delinquency murder, aggravated robbery and felonious assault, according to the Columbus Division of Police. Officers took him to the Franklin County Court of Domestic Relations to be processed, and police said he would then be held at the Franklin County Juvenile Intervention Center. This report does not name the teenager because of his age.

The night of the shooting

Police were called at about 7:45 p.m. on October 30 to a condominium in the 1000 block of Hardesty Place West after a report of gunfire. Officers found one person suffering from at least one gunshot wound, and that victim told them a second person had also been shot in the basement of the condo.

Chan, the second victim, was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:56 p.m. Medics took the first victim to a local hospital in critical condition. A third victim arrived at a hospital without an ambulance and was released after treatment, police said.

Detectives said they believe the shooting stemmed from an attempted robbery. The division's homicide update on the case says the investigation is ongoing.

A graduate with plans

Chan graduated from Briggs High School this past spring, Columbus City Schools spokesman Mike Brown told The Columbus Dispatch on November 2. She had plans to attend cosmetology school at the Ohio State School of Cosmetology.

Her father, Paul Chan, told the Dispatch on November 3 that his daughter was at the condo while her boyfriend was getting a haircut when the shooting began, and that she was not the intended target. Friends and family set up a GoFundMe page to help with burial expenses, and by November 2 it had raised more than $4,600 toward a $5,500 goal, the Dispatch reported.

Charged on November 5, arrested on November 9

Police charged the teenager on November 5, and a homicide update from the division identified him as a suspect with a warrant on file. As of 2 p.m. on November 6, police said he was not in custody, and detectives asked anyone who knew where he was to call the Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-8477.

The SWAT arrest on Monday ended that search. Police have not announced any other arrests in the case.