Man shoots his partner in domestic violence incident

by Anthony Glassman

Columbus--Domestic violence came to the LGBT community of central Ohio on April 6, although there is some question as to who the abuser was.

John Reed, 54, told police he shot his partner, 56-year-old Jeffrey Caldwell, in self-defense after Caldwell started beating him during an argument. Reed says he grabbed a .22 caliber revolver and shot Caldwell when he cornered him in the bathtub.

Reed has been charged with murder, and bail was set at a quarter million dollars in a hearing on April 9.

Reed himself called the police, telling the dispatcher that he shot Caldwell because �He was killing me, he was trying to kill me,� according to the Columbus Dispatch. Caldwell allegedly shoved him against a wall before he shot him.

Reed is a retired employee of the Ohio State University Medical Center. Caldwell worked in the wine department of a Kroger grocery store, where he organized wine tastings and live music.

According to one of Caldwell�s coworkers, the couple had split up but they were still living together.

The incident underscores the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs� 2010 report on same-sex intimate partner violence, which found a 38 percent increase in reports of domestic violence among same-sex couples, with a commensurate increase in the severity of the violence.

The report showed an increase from 36 percent to 55 percent of survivors reporting physical violence in their abusive relationships.

The Buckeye Region Anti-Violence Organization is Columbus� member of the NCAVP, and urges community members experiencing intimate partner violence to report it and contact them. BRAVO can be reached at 614-2947867 or www.bravo-ohio.org.