CLEVELAND, Ohio — Following a violent weekend in Cleveland, including a mass shooting Downtown, activists say they hope city leaders will take action.
West 6th Street welcomed back its typical summer evening dinner crowd Monday. Some who live in the popular Warehouse District said they were shocked by the weekend’s events but had resumed their normal routine.
“I still feel safe, carry about my day-to-day the same way, but it makes you think a little bit,” said Cade Louvin, who lives nearby but wasn’t home early Sunday morning.
Others recalled hearing the chaos.
“We live sort of just above here. So we just woke up because we heard the gunshots. You kind of know what they sound like, and they just reverb through the street,” said Gabby Semon.
Shortly after bars closed on West 6th Street early Sunday morning, police say an unknown person opened fire on a group standing outside. Nine people were injured by gunshots, and the shooter ran from the scene.
“You hear about stuff like that happening all the time, but hearing it happen so close to home was kind of surreal,” said Louvin.
The mass shooting was just part of a violent weekend. In a 24-hour period, two people died, and at least a dozen others were injured in four separate shootings.
Some Downtown said the violence, though unnerving, was unlikely to alter their plans.
“Sadly, we probably won’t change our behavior, but just always be kind of aware. And I think living Downtown, you have that kind of awareness anyway. I guess maybe it’s just heightened for a little bit,” Semon said.
While things appeared to be returning to normal in the Warehouse District, some activists think the violence deserves a swift and staunch reaction from city leaders.
“What goes through my mind, unfortunately, is ‘we told you so,’” said Al Porter, Jr., an ambassador for Black on Black Crime, Inc.
He explained other parts of the city experience violence on a more regular basis.
“Those of us who care - we can’t sleep. There are others who are too terrified. They can’t sleep either,” Porter said.
The group said it’s been calling for more investment in the communities plagued by violence and in the young people who are immersed in it. Its members hope the attention to Sunday’s mass shooting generates action from city leaders.
Ted Guerry, the group’s vice president, said, “As the scripture says: ‘Love thy neighbor.’ And everybody is your neighbor; it doesn’t matter. We might’ve come on different boats, but we’re all in the same boat now.”
Cleveland Police are asking anyone with information about any shootings to contact them at 216-623-5318.
Crimestoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for information about the Warehouse District shooting. Restaurant owner Bobby George is upping the reward money to $50,000. Anonymous tips can be left by calling Crimestoppers at 216-25-CRIME.
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