There were no security guards assigned to Zone Recreation Center Monday when a basketball game ended with a daytime shooting that put a 20-year-old Rocky River man in the hospital.
According to police records, shots were fired by an unknown suspect around 8 p.m. Monday. Witnesses said the gunfire stemmed from a fight on the basketball court over a pick-up game.
The victim sustained a gunshot wound to the right leg.
Zone Recreation Center is typically staffed by off-duty officers between 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. during the week and between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturdays.
But there was no security present on Monday.
A spokesperson for the City of Cleveland said that security guards were not assigned to the west side recreation center at that time because of the holiday.
The recreation center building was closed and city said it does not have security assigned during non-operational hours.
But residents who live near the recreation center argued that the policy doesn’t make sense because the adjacent park is open every day and is especially busy on holidays.
“Weekends and holidays especially,” said Robert Keegan, who lives nearby. “Whenever there are a lot of people here using the facilities there should be someone here looking after their safety.”
In March, the Cleveland City Council voted to nearly double security spending, from $600,000 to more than $1 million. The ordinance extended security to all recreation centers and pools but didn’t address the staffing hours.
“It still wasn’t enough,” Councilman Kenneth Johnson, who spearheaded the measure, told News 5. “We thought we could get by with it but I guess not. We’re going to have to increase it more.”
Johnson said Monday’s incident proves that the security hours need to be extended. He said he will push to amend the ordinance in light of what happened.
“If it saves one life, it’s worth it,” Johnson said.
The suspect in Monday’s shooting was described as a black male with medium complexion, a tattoo on his chest, wearing faded camo pants and black air force Nike shoes. Witnesses said he was in his mid-20s and ran from the scene towards the RTA station.
