Lima man killed in Fourth Street shooting

LIMA — Lima police are looking for a person or people involved in a Thursday night shooting in southern Lima that left one dead in the city’s fourth murder in 2022.

Officers were sent shortly before 10 p.m. to the Branson Avenue and Fourth Street area in connection with the shooting. They found 22-year-old Kobe Bryant from Lima in the yard of an apartment building at 643 E. Fourth Street with gunshot wounds. He did not answer and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The police have no suspects at this time.

According to a statement released by the Lima Police Department, Bryant was one of two teenagers charged with the May 14, 2017 shooting at the 300 block of North Collette Street.

Anyone with information about the Thursday night shooting should contact Detective Matt Boss at 419-221-5156, the Lima Police Department at 419-227-4444, or the Lima/Allen County Crime Squad at 419-221-5156. 419-229-7867.

According to LPD Detective Sgt. Jason Garlock, Bryant’s death was the fourth murder in Lima this year. This is in line with last year’s total, but well below the 13 murders investigated by the LPD in 2020 and seven in 2019. There were five murders in the city in 2018, according to data provided by the LPD.

In 2020, the city saw multiple homicides in a single morning earlier in the year when three men died inside or near the former Levels Lounge at 122 E. North St. on February 4. Lima resident Deontray Forrest was charged with murder and murder. criminal group activity to shoot deaths. He is due to stand trial in May 2023, more than three years after the incident.