CLEVELAND — A community on Cleveland's East Side is mourning the loss of 15-year-old Anthony Hughes. The teen was gunned down near East 55th Street and Scovill Avenue Wednesday evening.
Members of the Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance said it happened shortly after he left a neighborhood peacekeeping meeting. Now, their goal is to continue working to make sure tragedies like this stop happening.
“We've talked to the community. The community is just very distraught,” said Myesha Crowe, Executive Director, Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance. “It's really tragic.”
Police said he was walking with two other teenage boys just before 8:30 p.m. Wednesday when two vehicles drove up and started shooting at them. Two of the boys were able to run away unharmed, but Hughes was hit by several bullets.
A 43-year-old man walking with a woman nearby was also struck in the shoulder.
Both he and Hughes were rushed to University Hospitals where Hughes later died.
“One of my team members, Antonio McMullen, he actually drove the mother to University Hospitals who identified her child that day,” Crowe said.
The Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance works with young people in high risk neighborhoods and supports families after they suffer losses due to violence.
The group held a peacemaking session at the King Kennedy Boys & Girls Club Wednesday to discuss the shooting death of 19-year-old Arthur Keith by a CMHA officer last month.
Hughes and his friends attended that meeting shortly before Hughes was shot.
“This is again the third Boys & Girls Club member who has lost their life to gun violence in his community. So, more people need to step up,” Crowe said.
Crowe called on city officials to create a safety plan to protect young people from gun violence.
“Cleveland Peacemakers cannot and will not be able to do it alone,” Crowe said.
The group is also beefing up their own efforts in the King Kennedy neighborhood.
“We are offering safe passage. When the young people are entering the Boys and Girls Club and when they're leaving, my outreach workers will be there to assist,” Crowe said.
Cleveland Police have not yet identified any suspects.
Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators at 216-623-5464. Anonymous information can be provided via Crimestoppers by calling 216-25-CRIME.
Jade Jarvis is a reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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