On December 15, 2024, 21-year-old Kaelan Amerson was shot and later died after his vehicle was struck on the 1400 block of Climbing Fig Drive in Jefferson Township, near Columbus, Ohio. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office reported the shooting happened just after 2:00 a.m. while Amerson and two passengers were in a car in the vicinity of Licking Heights West Elementary School for what investigators described as a drug transaction. All three occupants were struck; the passengers suffered minor injuries while Amerson was critically wounded.

According to investigators, 23-year-old Nicko Matthews-Cooper allegedly attempted to rob Amerson, produced a handgun and fired multiple shots into the vehicle, then fled the scene. Amerson lost control of the car and crashed into a yard on Narrow Leaf Drive; he was taken to Mount Carmel East Hospital and pronounced dead. Matthews-Cooper was located and arrested on the evening of December 16, 2024, at a residence on Keller Place West in Grove City.

Are there details about the encounter on Climbing Fig Drive or witnesses who saw the vehicle before the shooting that anyone can share?