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Columbus, Ohio – A Black man has been arrested for the gunshot murder of a gifted White teenager, the Justice Report has learned.
The suspect, 30-year-old Skyler Burley, is now facing one charge of murder for shooting and killing unarmed 17-year-old Gage Anderson on Tuesday evening.
According to reports, Police arrived at a United Dairy Farmers gas station on the south end of Columbus after reports of a shooting. That’s when officers discovered Anderson—who is White—unresponsive and suffering from gunshot wounds. Anderson was taken to a hospital, where he was eventually pronounced dead.
Eyewitnesses to the shooting told law enforcement that the Burley—who is Black—fled the scene in a black Kia. A Columbus Police Department helicopter intercepted Burley’s vehicle, and he would eventually be taken into custody. Neither parties involved knew each other prior to the murder, officials said.
Police assert that Anderson’s gunshot killing is tied to a suspected “road rage incident” after the victim’s father told them that he witnessed Burley get out of his car and shoot his son dead. During interrogation, Burley admitted to shooting the White teenager but did so in self-defense after they “exchanged words” and Anderson “lunged at him.”
As of press time, no evidence of this alleged attack has been made public, but the Justice Report will continue to provide updates as they become available.
Burley is being charged with murder and is currently in Franklin County Jail. At an arraignment hearing Thursday morning, a bandage-wearing Skyler Burley doubled down on the self-defense narrative. A judge set his bond at 1.5 million dollars.
The incident would come a little over a year after the June 2023 road rage killing of White 40-year-old George Jensen II, who police say was shot dead commuting home from work by 30-year-old Dacarrei Tovon Kinard.
An independent Justice Report investigation revealed that Kinard—who is Black—was a repeat criminal offender living in Columbus and had a “prolific history” of prison violence and misbehavior.
Meanwhile, the family and friends of Gage Anderson are still reeling from the loss, now left with the grim task of preparing a funeral back in his native Kentucky. Some have described the late teen as a bright, “wholesome” person who was taken too soon.
“It is with a saddened heart and wishing the nightmare would go away I come to you with information…My great nephew, Gage Anderson, was shot and killed in a senseless act of violence in Columbus, Ohio,” read a Facebook statement by Denise Anderson-Henson.
“The reputation he leaves behind is someone who lights up a room and put a smile on every face he met,” said an unnamed friend of the deceased. “The high school memories that I have of him personally I will never ever forget. It’s hard to fill.”
Gage was said to have been a gifted teenager who just graduated from high school a year early. As a Career Technical Education student, he was enrolled in a program that allowed him to explore the world of boat and small engine repair at Kentucky’s Greenup County High School.
Reports state that Anderson was temporarily in Ohio, working as a landscaper with his father to save up enough money to buy a car. Greenup County is organizing a candlelight vigil in his memory on Thursday night.
According to the latest US Census Reports, Columbus, Ohio, has seen a steady decrease in the area’s White population. As of 2020, only 51.97% of Discovery City is listed as White alone, down sharply from 66.89% in 2000.
Replacing the White community is an ever-growing number of Black residents, which reports indicate has already reached 28.32% of the total population.
The racial dynamics of cities like Columbus and others in Ohio continue to place the White community’s most vulnerable in the path of Black violence, criminality, and death.
In June, Black 32-year-old Bionca Ellis was arrested for a now-infamous knife-murder of White 3-year-old Julian Wood in the parking lot of a Giant Eagle in North Olmstead, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. In that case, the suspect had been walking free from several different crimes, thanks to a pro-Black judge who determined there were “no red flags” that would prevent her from skirting a mental health exam.
In February, White 14-year-old Lauralye Sterling was shot to death in her own bedroom. For the crime, police arrested a Black man, identified as 18-year-old Malik Dennis, who is alleged to have climbed up the side of her Lima, Ohio, residence to the second floor before opening fire.
In 2023, the sleepy town of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, was rocked after an Ethiopian Black was arrested for beheading young, White, newlywed, 22-year-old Keris L. Riebel at an area dollar store. Police say the victim, identified as Bethel M. Bekele, confessed to the crime and was later moved to a “mental health facility” and found to be incompetent to stand trial.
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