COLUMBUS, Ind. — A Columbus man has been sentenced to 38 years in prison for a drive-by shooting that injured four people in May 2023.

Edmarius Oats pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated battery on July 17, 2025, more than two years after the shooting that injured two adults and two minors. He was sentenced on Aug. 20.

The shooting happened in Lincoln Park, in Columbus, near the Hamilton Center in the park. Dozens of people were playing softball nearby when Oats started shooting. Another man, Alexander Parker, is charged with being Oats' driver.

“Today’s sentence sends a clear message: reckless acts of violence will not be tolerated in our community," Bartholomew County Prosecutor Lindsey Holden-Kay said in a statement. "The defendant carried out a drive-by shooting at a public pa

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