Columbus Police still looking into stabbing death of OU freshman

Columbus Police are investigating the stabbing death of an Ohio University student at that city's annual ComFest community festival last Saturday as possibly drug-related, self-inflicted and accidental.

"œWe're going off the working theory that it's an accidental death... that the wounds were self-inflicted," reported CPD Homicide Sgt. Eric Pilya Tuesday.

Pilya also said police believe 18-year-old Bryan Barbin may have "taken some mind-altering substances," and stabbed himself Saturday night, though not with suicidal intent.

Investigators have recovered the knife that they believe killed the student, he said. He added that they don't want to speculate publicly about what drugs, if any, Pilya may have ingested until they get toxicology results back from an autopsy.

Barbin, who is from Columbus, was a second-year student in OU's Russ College of Engineering and Technology, who according to OU officials had just completed his freshman year.

He was reportedly pronounced dead at Grant Medical Center Saturday night after he suffered stab wounds to the chest while attending ComFest Saturday night. The annual summer festival ran from Friday through Sunday, in Columbus' Goodale Park.

OU released a brief statement on Pilya's death Tuesday. "We are deeply saddened by this loss," Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi was quoted as saying. "Our thoughts go out to Bryan's family and friends."

A source in the Franklin County Coroner's Office confirmed Tuesday that an autopsy has been performed, and that multiple stab wounds were identified as the likely cause of death.

However, the source said, until toxicology results return, which typically takes four to five weeks, the coroner won't rule on the mode of death "“ for example, if it was self-inflicted.

Pilya confirmed media reports that police have interviewed a young man of around 17, who was an acquaintance of Barbin and apparently was with him around the time he suffered the stab wounds.

The officer said the second young man is not suspected of foul play in Barbin's death, and that what he told police tends to support their theory that Barbin may have killed himself accidentally while under the influence of drugs.

Pilya said that according to witnesses, before he died Barbin did reportedly utter "some vague statements" after the stabbing, but that these do not appear to shed much light on what happened.

A story in the Columbus Dispatch reported that a vendor who claims to have witnessed the stabbing said he saw two men who appeared to be friends wrestling, then saw one man fall to the ground and the other begin apologizing profusely.

Another media report said a witness described a second man who appeared to fold up a knife and leave the scene after the incident, though Pilya said he had no information about this supposed scenario.

Columbus Police are asking anyone with information about the death to call their homicide unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-645-8477.