WASHINGTON: One person was killed on Monday in a shooting following a dispute at an apartment complex in Ohio, US authorities said, dismissing initial fears that a nearby mosque had been targeted.
A federal agency had said its agents were responding to a shooting at a mosque in Columbus before police clarified that the incident was unrelated to the religious site.
“This was not an attack on the mosque,” Sergeant James Fuqua of Columbus Police told reporters.
“There are multiple individuals in an apartment complex with some unknown dispute,” he said.
“We don’t want to rush to judgment, but it’s super important that I make it clear that this shooting had nothing to do with an attack on the mosque itself.”
He added that one person was dead from what appeared to be a gunshot wound.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) office in Columbus earlier said its agents were “responding to a reported shooting incident at a mosque”.
In a further statement, an agency spokeswoman said preliminary information indicated that funeral attendees were leaving the Alrahma Mosque “when shots were reportedly fired by an undetermined number of individuals”.
“One individual has been confirmed deceased.”
Deadly shootings are common in the United States, where gun ownership is legal.