An 11-year-old killed in Cincinnati has been identified and police are seeking the shooter
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An 11-year-old boy killed in a weekend shooting in Cincinnati was identified Monday by the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office as Dominic Davis.
Police Chief Terri Theetge told reporters Sunday that a shooter in a sedan fired 22 rounds “in quick succession” into a crowd of children just before 9:30 p.m. Friday on the city’s West End. No suspect has been arrested.
A 53-year-old woman was hit along with the boy who died; three other boys aged 12, 13 and 15; and a 15-year-old girl. One victim was hospitalized in stable condition.
Theetge said it was too early to say whether the shooting was random or targeted and declined to discuss other aspects of the investigation.
The shots were fired in a “vibrant neighborhood” next to a park and near a historic elementary school, said Mayor Aftab Pureval at the news conference.
Dominic Davis’ father, Isaac Davis, came forward at the Sunday news conference along with Dominic’s mother and grandmother and also urged whoever was responsible to turn themselves in.
“When will this stop? Will this ever stop?” Isaac Davis asked. ”How many people have to bury their kids, their babies, their loved ones?”
Pureval called it “a horrific tragedy.”
“Our friends and neighbors are feeling unimaginable fear, trauma, and anger,” Pureval said and vowed to “give everything we have to deliver justice against this sickening, heartless violence.”
Pureval also said that the West End neighborhood is suffering “unimaginable trauma” and that residents are wary of leaving their homes.
“The parents, and the kids themselves we talked to, don’t feel safe, and I frankly can’t blame them,” he said.
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Samantha Hendrickson is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.