Sylvester Watkins, a 21-year-old Black male, died on August 13, 2022, after being shot near the XO Nightclub on East Long Street in Columbus, Ohio. The shooting occurred at about 1:41 a.m. when a fight in the nightclub’s parking lot escalated into gunfire. First responders took Watkins to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center in critical condition; he died later that evening.

The Columbus Police Department’s Homicide Unit opened an investigation and treated the death as a homicide. Two people were detained at the scene, but no charges have been announced. Watkins’s death was recorded as the city’s 86th homicide of 2022. Authorities have urged anyone with information to contact the Columbus Police Homicide Unit or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers.

If anyone saw the fight or the shooting near XO Nightclub that night, or has information that could help investigators, please come forward.