COLUMBUS — Police in Columbus say that viral posts about a serial killer in Columbus are not true.
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The rumors began circulating after a man and three women were killed in south Columbus last week, our news partners at WBNS-10 TV reported.
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“We have been made aware that over the past several days there have been some rumors circulating on social media that some incidents are connected to a serial killer. I can tell you definitively that’s not the case,” Columbus Division of Police Deputy Chief Smith Weir said.
45-year-old Darrell Hambrick was fatally shot outside a home in the 700 block of East Moler Street on Dec. 10.
Four days later, three women were found dead with gunshot wounds inside a home on South Ohio Ave, about half a mile away from where Hambrick was shot.
News Center 7 previously reported that the three women were identified Monday as 34-year-old Sierra Muse, 49-year-old Dawn Clover, and 36-year-old Tiffany Parrish.
The person who found the women in the home and called 911 was a friend of Hambrick’s, WBNS-10 TV reported.
Deandre Herndon went to check on what he said was Hambrick’s home on South Ohio Ave after he heard that he was killed. He found the three women dead inside.
The day after the women were discovered, 39-year-old Haikiem Graham was charged with murder in connection to Hambrick’s death.
While police say they believe the homicides are connected, they believe there are other suspects involved.
“There is not a serial killer associated with either of those incidents,” Weir said.
On Monday, another woman was found dead in the area of Harrisburg Pike in southwest Columbus according to police.
Police say this incident is not related and is believed to be domestic-related. Weir confirmed they have a person of interest in custody in Athens County.
“In today’s day and age, unfortunately sometimes these rumors that circulate can take on a life of their own,” Weir said. “It’s our job to be transparent with the community, but also in the case where maybe there are some people that are afraid these rumors may be true, if we know definitively they are not, it’s not necessarily responsible for us to let that fester.”
One of the rumors going around social media platforms like Facebook, X, and TikTok showed a picture of a man, alleged to be a serial killer, with a warning to the public about him attacking people and trying to gain people’s trust, targeting the Columbus area.
Police confirmed that they are not investigating any “active serial killers” in their jurisdiction and are not aware of an investigation of the man named in the posts.
Deputies in a Florida county debunked a post showing the same man with similar text.
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