21 people shot, 3 people killed in Cleveland on July Fourth holiday Transcript

Speaker 1: (00:00)
Tonight at 11:00 Cleveland city leaders are calling for action after rampant illegal fireworks used, played a role in stepped up 4th of July violence across the city.

Speaker 2: (00:09)
City reports 21 people were shot last night. That includes three homicides in the span of several hours.

Kito March: (00:15)
Last night’s events were absolutely shocking to me, as well as the residents of this community.

Speaker 2: (00:23)
Now that violent holiday has city leaders reacting, wondering what could have been done to further reduce gun violence and the illegal fireworks use.

Speaker 1: (00:31)
News 5 investigator Joe Pagonakis responded taking residents complaints to City Hall in search of some answers.

Kito March: (00:38)
Things have just spun out of control. They actually completely went haywire.

Joe Pagonakis: (00:42)
Volunteers had to collect more than a dozen bags of trash and debris. The aftermath of an illegal July 4th fireworks party that took place without approval on the property of Second Calvary Missionary Baptist Church on Emory Avenue on Cleveland’s West side.

Kito March: (00:57)
These are some of the fireworks that we had to clean up our staff, not only the fireworks, but also the alcohol.

Joe Pagonakis: (01:05)
Pastor Kito March says the illegal fireworks party continued past midnight and spiraled into violence and illegal activity.

Kito March: (01:13)
Alcohol and the fighting. And there was even a couple of cases where there were actually dice being shot on the church property.

Joe Pagonakis: (01:22)
And then, Cleveland Police reported 1:15 AM things went from bad to worse with three people shot just two doors down from the church. Fireworks debris everywhere. The entire street shut down for hours.

Kito March: (01:33)
Individuals who were shot last night were not even residents of the west side. And so for me as a pastor, for me as a community leader, that’s very disheartening for me.

Brian Mooney: (01:43)
Fireworks are not legal in Cleveland. They continue not to be legal.

Joe Pagonakis: (01:48)
Ward 11 Cleveland Councilman, Brian Mooney, believes the city didn’t get the job done with city 4th of July stats showing 21 people shot, three homicides, and 226 complaints to police for illegal fireworks. Cleveland fire stats were no better, with more than 300 July 4th fire calls, seven structure fires, 19 grass and landscaping fires, including this widespread grass fire off west 25th near Metro Hospital.

Brian Mooney: (02:14)
The city needs to do a better job of getting the message out, and we need some enforcement.

Joe Pagonakis: (02:19)
Cleveland police are still searching for suspects in the triple shooting on Emory Avenue. Meanwhile, Mooney says residents must also play a role in slowing Cleveland gun violence and illegal fireworks use.

Brian Mooney: (02:30)
Education to the citizens that just because the state of Ohio legalized it, fireworks are not legal in Cleveland. And we’ve got to send the message out that they won’t be tolerated here.

Joe Pagonakis: (02:40)
And Cleveland mayor Justin Bibbs administration responded immediately to our story here at Cleveland City Hall on the 13th separate shooting incidents that took place on July 4th evening saying detectives are continuing to conduct interviews and are hoping anyone with information will contact Crime Stoppers at 216-25-CRIME or report illegal fireworks’ activity. Reporting right here at Cleveland City Hall, I’m News 5 investigator, Joe Pagonakis.

Speaker 2: (03:07)
Okay. We did reach out to Cleveland Police multiple times for an on-camera interview. We were given a series of statements instead that read in part quote, “The acts of violence we experienced over the July 4th holiday are unacceptable and shocking. Lives were lost. Many more experienced gunshot wounds that will impact victims and their families forever. We must work collaboratively to end violence.” Again, as Joe mentioned, Cleveland Police are asking anyone with information on any of these shootings overnight to contact investigators, anonymous information can be provided. Here’s the number again, Crime Stoppers, 216-25-CRIME.