CLEVELAND — When a shooting scene clears, the impact doesn’t always leave.
For children who walk past old crime scene tape and memorials, what they see can stay with them.
News 5 Investigators partnered with The Trace, an independent organization that tracks gun violence, to take a closer look at shootings near schools in Cleveland.
The data shows 1,547 shootings happened within 500 yards of a Cleveland school between 2017 and 2025.
That’s an average of nearly 172 shootings a year.
In a span of just five months, three Cleveland teenagers were shot and killed near schools.
In August 2022, Devonte Johnson was shot and killed near Glenville High School. A month later, Andre Wells was gunned down near Rhodes High School.
Then, in January 2023, Pierre McCoy was killed at a bus stop outside John Adams.
“It’s kids that in the 9th, 10th grade that got friends who were murdered in middle school,” The Safety Unit’s Kareem Smith said.
Smith says he and his violence prevention team work outside East Tech High School before and after school.
The Trace data ranked East Tech third among Cleveland schools, with 56 shootings within 500 yards from 2017 through 2025.
CLICK HERE to see the rankings.
Smith walks side-by-side with students to help them get home safely.
“For the most part, the school is a safe place, but the neighborhood isn’t,” Smith said.
Cleveland also had the second-highest annual rate of shootings near schools among 31 similar-sized cities, according to The Trace.
“If you’re worrying in math class as you’re sitting there and worrying about is everybody okay, is everybody safe or thinking about that walk home from school, that’s going to impact your focus of that problem that’s in front of you,” MetroHealth Child Psychologist Dr. Lisa Ramirez said.
Ramirez says repeated exposure to violence and fear can take a toll.
For Anita Deal’s family, that violence has brought repeated loss. Three of her sons were shot and killed over the course of four years. Her youngest, Maurco, was just 13.
“My entire family has been shattered,” Deal said about grief that reached the youngest members of her family.
“I don’t even know what to say to my grandchildren because sometimes I don’t even know what to say to myself,” Deal said.
“As long as a child is safe, right, we can engage them, being present in the here and now that stops our fight-or-flight from thinking about the what-ifs and thinking about the scary thing that happened, and you’re present in the moment," Dr. Ramirez said.
Ramirez says what children have around them matters, including strong friendships, trusted adults, and activities like sports.
"You might have a child that has repeated exposure but is actually doing fine and will continue to do fine because of those protective factors,” Ramirez said.
While Smith and his team try to head off trouble outside East Tech.
“They build a rapport with the students to gain trust, and they just try to mentor them while they’re out here and stay ahead of any drama,” Smith said.
Deal and her family are living with what can’t be undone.
“A lot of us have been getting therapy, seeing psychiatrists, some of us take medication. We’ll never be back to where we were, but we can just live,” Deal said.
