and
and 11
and 11 other people are recovering after a mass shooting in
Central Toledo. Thanks for
joining
us tonight ... I'm Jeff Smith.
Melissa Andrews has the evening
off.
off.
We
We continue our live team coverage of the 4th of July block party turned
violent. Emma Henderson
talks
with the man charged with
stopping gun violence in Toledo
... and the person who threw the
party. Plus ... Dan Cummins
spoke with a retired law-
enforcement officer about what
can be
done to help.
First
First ...
First ... here's what we know. It started with a call of a man ... shooting a gun in the air
near Detroit
and Lawrence ... just before
12:30
this morning
this morning 70 Toledo police officers rushed
to the scene. In all ... 12
people were shot. Emergency
crews
took the 17-year- old by
helicopter to
Ann Arbor ... but the teen died.
A
19-year-old and a 51-year-old
are
both in critical condition.
The
other victims are expected to
survive. Tonight ... we
have
have Toledo Police Chief George Kral saying we need a solution.
"We should be angry. We need to
come together as a community. We've
seen violence like this in this
country all year long, and now
it's hit home. Someone there
knows who was shooting these
guns."
guns."
guns." Kral says none of the 70
officers fired
officers fired
any
any shots. WTOL 11 has requested body and dash cam video from the scene. The
chief also tells us ...
witnesses have
not been cooperive with this
investigation.
Tonight ... Emma Henderson spoke
with the man who says he threw
the
party. And she sits down
with
JoJuan Armour with Toledo's
Initiative to Reduce Gun
Violence.
Emma - what are you hearing?
Jeff ... the person who hosted
the party says he's been holding the
same event for more than 2
decades... it's supposed to be a birthday party for his brother born on the 4th of July. He is
still trying to
figure out how that led to a
mass
shooting.
mass shooting. Dan... the person who hosted the
party says he's been holding the
same event for more than 2
decades... it's supposed to be a
birthday party for his brother
born on
the 4th of July. He is still
trying to
figure out how that led to a
mass shooting.
mass shooting. This neighbor was expecting a
lively party fillled with family, friends and neighbors
coming over to enjoy some food
on the fourth.... that's not
what happened.
"We never had this type of issue
ever,
ever, we
ever, we neever had this type of issue.It had to be somebody from somewhere else
came
over here and maybe started
something."
Now, a teenager is dead, and 11
others recovering after being
shot...
including some of his own
family...
"Grandkids, cousins, you know
everyone's out here. This is a
family birthday get-
together. "
JoJuan Armour with the Mayors
Initiative to end gun violence
was
was on
was on scene last night and this afternoon... says he was disturbed
at what he saw.
"Outside of the tragedy of the
loss of
life, watching kids wander the
streets, it
was heartwrenching. "
He says police needed to be
called when the crowd got out of
hand... and that parents NEED
to
take more responsibility for
thir kid's whereabouts. Out
of those shot... 11 of the
people were
19 years old or younger... the
youngest... only 11.
" one is that violence increases
in the
evening and two is that there
are too
many gun in Toledo... not just
Toledo, across
the country, there's too many
guns
everywhere, so if we know this,
why are we
having our 10 year olds, 9 year
olds, 8
year olds out past 11 o clock at
night?"
night?"
He
He says
He says we know there's a gun problem in our country and our community... so it's time the
community helps try to solve the
problem.... And after two
decades... the man who hosted
the party that kicked things off
he'll think
twice before holding the event
again.
"This a sad situation I feel
bad, I hope
everyone will be alright. "
Armour says he has interviews
this
this week
this week to bring more people on board to try and curb violence at the
community level. In Downtown
Toledo... Emma Henderson, WTOL
11.
11.
11. Emma
11. Emma you had the chance to talk
to Armour about some of his initiatives ... including hiring
violence interrupters to help
dissolve tensions at scenes like
the one last night ... where
does that stand?
Interviews begin tomorrow for the finalists for those roles... Armour has been clear he wants
them filled before the end of
the summer... and says this
shooting is an example of where
they could've tried to help.
Jeff?
Jeff?
Jeff? the
Jeff? the summer... and says this
shooting is an example of where they
could've tried to help.
Jeff?
Jeff?
Jeff? A
Jeff? A common belief is that JoJuan
Armour cannot do it alone ... As
the gun violence becomes more
common ... it takes a bigger
response.
response. New tonight ... Dan Cummins talked with a retired officer
...
who offered his perspective on
it.
it.
The
The fact
The fact that 80-or more shots were fired in that incident last
night..
is alarming. There are SO
many guns on our streets. It's
impossible to take the guns
away.
But we need to change the
attitude.. People are way too
willing
to shoot another person.
Earl Mack has over 32 years in
law enforcement.. he's retired now.
Ran for Lucas County Sheriff.
He's a leader in the Buffalo
Soldiers,
who do great work in our
community
helping the needy. Supporting
veterans causes. Supporting
police. Events like last
week's shooting..
can be prevented. But it
takes all of
us at all levels.. to have an
impact on
youth. Whether it's at school
or in the
family, teaching the value of
LIFE.
LIFE.
LIFE. "Now there's so many guns in
society, kids get ahold of them. They take
examples
from adults and it makes them
feel kind
of like a big person or bring
out some of
those things that says if you
mess with me I
have this. We have to change
that."
that."
Tomorrow
Tomorrow night, Earl talks about improving the relationship
Tomorrow
Tomorrow night, Earl talks about improving the relationship between police and the public.