Cleveland Mayor spoke about holiday weekend violence after 27 shot, 4 killed

UPDATE: The Mayor’s office just released updated numbers shortly after 7 p.m.

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson held a Tuesday afternoon press conference to speak out about the violent holiday weekend.

There were over 20 people shot and 3 killed during the Independence Day weekend.

Jackson reacted to the violence that took place this Independence day weekend.

The blood shed and chaos Jackson said started early this year.

“That beginning around February of this year there’s been a uptake in crime and particularly violent crime, crime involving guns,” he said.

An eight year old girl also one of those people that were shot.

She was conscious, talking while being taken to the hospital.

Sadly that’s not the only shooting that took place.

Police Chief Calvin D. Williams spoke about the pandemic and how that may be a factor.

“When there were stay at home orders issued, when businesses started to have a lot of folks work from home we saw an increase in violent crime and again not just in Cleveland but across the country and we’ve been dealing with those increases ever since,” he said.

Williams said these violent surges typically take place during holiday weekends.

“A lot of those incidents we had good leads for, people that knew each other that got into disagreements,” he said.

Mayor Jackson, Director Of Public Safety Karrie Howard and Police Chief Calvin D. Williams issued a statement on the weekend of violence that plagued Cleveland:

“Gun violence and violent crime is on the rise. This holiday weekend specifically, the city of Cleveland has seen a large number of incidents involving shootings and tragically, three people killed. There is no excuse for this violent activity and police are actively pursuing the perpetrators. We remind citizens to do their part. If you see something, say something. Anyone with crime tips is asked to call police. Anonymous information can be provided via Crimestoppers by calling 216-25-CRIME.”

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