CINCINNATI — In what is called an "unprecedented" rise in violence, the Cincinnati Police Department released a statement about the four shootings that occurred in the city overnight that left two dead and three injured.

• One person was shot and killed at Hawaiian Terrace in Mt. Airy on Wednesday night.
• Two people were shot on Linn Street and were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
• One person was shot on West Liberty Street, but had non-life-threatening injuries.
• One person, Diantes Kemper, 42, was found shot on the 1200 block of West Galbraith Road early Thursday morning. He was pronounced dead at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Both of last night's shooting deaths are being investigated as homicides, continuing an upward trend of gun deaths in the city.

"What we have seen in the past 30 days is unprecedented," Cincinnati police stated. "(The Cincinnati Police Department) is continuing to mobilize all of our resources and partnerships to address this violence. We are working with our federal partners like the ATF daily. We will seek federal prosecution for those responsible for our violence. Our message to those individuals committing these brazen crimes, we are coming after you."

Cincinnati Police Assistant Chief Lisa Davis said in a video addressing last night's shootings, the city is inching toward the same number of homicides that occurred in 2020 when there were 82. Cincinnati has had over 70 so far in 2021.

Davis, who runs the department's investigative bureau, said the police department has put a working group in place to deal with the rise in gun violence.

"When looking at numbers, we certainly don't want to compare to 2020, but we are slowly reaching those levels," Davis said in a video statement. "Again, this type of violence won't be tolerated."

Mt. Airy: One dead in shooting at Hawaiian Terrace
West Galbraith: Police investigating early morning homicide

Gun violence has become the biggest issue in the city. Mayoral candidates Aftab Pureval and David Mann addressed the rise in shootings during a debate on Oct. 12. The debate, held at the Warsaw Federal Incline Theater in East Price Hill, was three-and-a-half miles from a triple-shooting that occurred the night before that left two dead. Cincinnati's City Council Neighborhood Committee held a special session the next week to address the violence, but the shootings haven't abated.

Davis said the department is asking for more community involvement, and asked anyone with information on shootings to call Crime Stoppers or use TIP411.

"Everyone deserves a safe neighborhood," Davis said. "We get there through the intelligence portion and the enforcement portion, but the largest part in how we do get there is through community partnership. When we come together against this violence, that's when we end this violence."

Residents can send information to the department through the TIP411 website, or they can call Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040.

NORWOOD, Ohio — Despite two hopefuls' best efforts, the primary race for Cincinnati mayor will remain a contest among six candidates come May 4.

At a Friday afternoon meeting of the Hamilton County Board of Elections' Norwood headquarters, members considered appeals from two people who petitioned to appear on the ballot but later were told not all the signatures they gathered were valid.

"I think I would have made an excellent candidate," said Adam Koehler, 44, of Mount Auburn. "Obviously, we're disappointed. I think the voters should have more choice, not less."

Koehler and 48-year-old Kelli Prather, of West Price Hill -- both hoping to run as Democrats -- each failed to gather the 500 valid signatures necessary to earn a place on the mayoral primary ballot, according to the Board of Elections.

Both failed to garner board members' support for their appeals Friday, as well, due to mistakes in the way the signatures were collected and submitted.

To be a valid signature, it must be from a registered, city of Cincinnati voter, and be accompanied by an address that matches that which the Board of Elections had on file for that name. The City Charter and the Ohio Revised Code outline some more specific technicalities, as well.

Watch the Board of Election members' full discussion of Koehler and Prather's appeals here:

Ultimately, the board voted 2-1 to reject Koehler's appeal and 3-0 to reject Prather's. One board member abstained in each vote.

"I think there are flaws in the process in terms of what they will decide is allowable," Koehler said after making his case to the board.

Prather took the board's rejection of her signatures on a more personal level.

"In my opinion, it just screams of discrimination or process of elimination, and I'm highly concerned with the way the process was conducted," she said, referring to what she argued was an inconsistent manner of processing the signatures she collected as valid.

Prather is no stranger to local elections: In 2016, she ran in the Democratic primary for an open Ohio seat in the U.S. Senate, and in 2020, she ran in the race for Hamilton County Commissioner.

She pointed out to the board Friday that she would have been the only woman on the ballot in May and, if elected, she would have become the first Black woman to serve as Cincinnati's mayor.

Democrat Yvette Simpson succeeded in the 2017 primary before losing to incumbent John Cranley in that year's general election.

When attempting to collect signatures for this race, Prather submitted three rounds of signatures, each time finding that not enough of them were verifiable as valid.

Some of the signatures she submitted were in the form of photocopies, she said, due to the original documents being damaged while being collected during a snowstorm.

Board chair Gwen McFarlin, also a Democrat and head of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, pointed to Prather's experience in elections and said the clock simply worked against her.

"You're a very seasoned candidate, and haste makes waste," said McFarlin. "You know the process. In this situation, you have to be held accountable that you did not turn in original petitions. These are copies."

In addition to Koehler and Prather, the elections board staff also rejected City Councilman Wendell Young's petitioned signatures to be on the ballot. Young chose not to appeal that decision.

Before Friday's meeting concluded, Prather indicated interest in challenging the board members' decision.

Friday's votes leave six candidates on the mayoral ticket for May 4:

• Gavi Begtrup (Mount Lookout)
• David Mann (Clifton)
• Herman J. Najoli (West Price Hill)
• Raffel Prophett (Avondale)
• Aftab Pureval (Clifton)
• Cecil Thomas (Avondale)

The top two vote-getters in the May 4 primary will advance to the general election in November.

NORWOOD, Ohio — Off-year elections typically have low voter turnout, and primary elections -- like Tuesday's Ohio primary -- often can have even lower numbers. But a high-profile mayoral race and a controversial ballot measure in Cincinnati might combine to buck that trend.

For Cincinnati voter Carolyn Jones, ballot Issue 3 and the Cincinnati mayoral primary were enough to motivate her to the polls. Six candidates are vying for two spots on November's general mayoral ballot, and Issue 3 would amend the city's charter to require at least $50 million in locally sourced funding be allocated to affordable housing projects.

Both races come after a tumultuous year marked with scandal at City Hall.

"That was a very big one for me," Jones told WCPO. "The mayor, most definitely. I've seen all these guys in action. I like a little bit about each one of them, but you need to think about who will serve your interest."

ISSUE 3: Pros and cons of affordable housing charter amendment
MAYOR'S RACE: Meet the 6 candidates for Cincinnati's top job

It was the same for Nicole Baah, who said, "The mayoral race was really interesting...knowing the mayor has such a big impact on that and really trying to participate on that."

According to Hamilton County Board of Elections director Sherry Poland, early voting turnout was up, both in person and by mail, compared to the last Cincinnati mayoral primary race in 2017. As of Sunday night, 3,185 people voted in person across the county, and in the city of Cincinnati, 5,072 people had returned absentee ballots.

"I think we're going to be higher than the last one in 2017," Poland said. "The highest turnout ever in a Cincinnati primary election was 20%, and there's a chance we could hit that."

The record-holding year was the 2005 mayoral primary, when about 44,000 people voted. In 2017, about 24,000 voters cast ballots and in the cycle before that, 2013, half that many turned out.

On Monday, Poland said it was still too early to tell how turnout this year will compare to years past.

"It's really premature because a majority of the voters in Hamilton County do choose to vote on Election Day. So I think that's where we'll see our biggest numbers come," she said.

For Jones, even an off-year, local primary is worth the effort it takes to cast her ballot.

"The idea that if you want to be part of what's going on and part of our government, we have to start with the basics, and these are the basics," she said.

Day-of voting opens for Ohio's primary at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, and polls will remain open until 7:30 p.m.