Intense video shows Ohio shooting that killed teen, wounded 11 at block party
Multiple gunmen indiscriminately shot up a Fourth of July block party in Ohio, killing one teen and wounding 11 others, intense police bodycam footage shows.
A 2-minute clip released by Toledo police shows an officer responding to the initial barrage of gunfire that left a 17-year-old boy dead and wounded nearly a dozen others ranging in age from 11 to 51.
“Go, go, find cover — move, move!” the officer tells people frantically running away from the scene, as he and another cop move toward the gunfire that erupted at about 12:25 a.m. July 5, the wild footage shows.
“Stay down!” one man screams nearby. “Stay down!”
The officers then order one person to show their hands while telling them not to move as bullets continue flying, setting off car alarms as they try to figure out who is firing while dozens of party-goers dash away from the block party.
“Move, find cover, find cover!” one cop says as a young girl yells nearby for help. “Get down, get down, get down — stay down!”
“We got multiple shooters, everywhere,” a second officer tells a dispatcher, according to the clip.
Several people then scream for help, including some who said they were shot during the barrage of gunfire at Detroit and Lawrence avenues, the footage shows.
“Stay down, stay down — everybody stay down!” one cop yells.
Someone had called cops to the scene, saying a suspect was firing a gun in the air before a 300-person mob started fighting in the street, the Toledo Blade reported.
One resident compared the ensuing melee to a movie scene, saying she saw three people who were shot, the newspaper reported.
“We have 12 Toledoans who were shot last night,” Police Chief George Kral told reporters on July 5. “We should be angry. We need to come together as a community. We’ve seen this type of violence in the country all year long. And now it’s hit home.”
Stephon Johnson, 17, was later pronounced dead at a hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he was airlifted following the shooting, WTOL reported.
Kral said it’s unclear what started the mass shooting and investigators had no information on suspects. Nine victims were in stable condition while two others, a 51-year-old and a 19-year-old, were in critical condition following the shooting, the Blade reported last week.
No arrests have been announced by Toledo police in the ongoing investigation as of early Tuesday. Police are asking the public’s help to identify the unknown suspects and a $5,000 reward is being offered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for information leading to a break in the unsolved mass shooting.