CLEVELAND — A Cleveland City Council member plans to go door-to-door to tackle gun violence after two separate shootings over the weekend that left three adults dead and two teen boys hurt.
Jasmin Santana is opening up for the first time about gun violence that touched her own family, which has moved her to try to find the root problem.
On Sunday, in broad daylight, a shooting on W. 48th Street killed 23-year-old Julius Kafel.
RELATED: 1 man dead, 2 teens injured following shooting near West 48th Street
Two boys, ages 15 and 16, were wounded.
Police said they arrested 52-year-old John Kafel, but have not revealed details about the relationship.
Maria Serrano lives on W. 48th Street, where the shooting happened.
"This guy came out crazy, 'boom boom boom boom boom,' they all shot,” Serrano said.
Among the wounded was Serrano’s 15-year-old grandson, whom she cares for as her own.
"These guys get out of the car, go there, grab my grandson from his neck, put a gun right here, and I said, ‘Please let my son away,'" Serrano said.
Serrano said she started screaming, and her grandson ran off with gunshot wounds to his hands. He remains in the hospital.
Twenty-four hours earlier, at a house party on Woodbridge Avenue, another deadly shooting.
RELATED: 2 dead following shooting in Cleveland
Joshay Andrews, 18, and Randy Clark Jr., 19, were killed.
Police said they have not made arrests in that case.
"You don’t want to get those calls,” Santana said.
But Santana got calls about both shootings in the neighborhoods she represents.
“Crime is something that is increasing in our area, and I do get the calls. I do live in the neighborhood, I witness it, I experience it,” Santana said.
She thought about gun violence that affected her own daughter.
"It’s disheartening. I live in the neighborhood. This is something I’ve never shared before, but my daughter was a part of gun violence just about a year ago, and it’s still hard for me to talk about it,” Santana said.
Santana said her daughter was riding in a car with a friend when they were randomly shot at. She said her daughter’s friend lost a kidney in the shooting.
"I wanted to give up because my priority is my kids,” Santana said.
But Santana said it’s pushed her to focus on finding the root of the violence.
Tuesday, she plans to walk the Stockyards and Clark-Fulton neighborhoods to invite families to a gun violence listening session.
The session will be held on Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the MetroHealth Opportunity Center at Via Sana at 3335 W. 25th St.
Santana said she’s renovated parks and is working with libraries to give kids something to do, but wants to go after nuisance houses harder.
News 5 Investigators asked Santana about guns on the streets.
"Yeah, where are they getting them? I don’t know, I don’t know, I mean, I’ve heard of youth stealing guns, right, but I don’t know they're all illegal guns,” Santana said.
Gun violence is something Serrano sees and hears too well, and after 18 years on W. 48th Street, she plans to move.
"Everybody got guns in this war, that’s what I hear, everybody,” Serrano said.
