Bernard Arthur Stoops Jr., 48, of Columbus, Ohio, was found with gunshot wounds at the rear of 145 South Harris Avenue in the Hilltop neighborhood on September 27, 2019. He was taken to Grant Medical Center in critical condition and pronounced dead at 10:41 p.m. Police reported that his 45-year-old stepbrother, Michael Tennihill, admitted to playing with a loaded firearm after an afternoon of drinking and accidentally discharging the weapon.

Tennihill was arrested and charged with reckless homicide. Questions remain about Tennihill’s level of intoxication and the exact nature of the relationship between the two men.

If anyone knew Bernard, his movements that day, or has information about what happened behind 145 South Harris Avenue, please come forward.