Bodycam video: East Cleveland officers respond to 3 shooting scenes within 90 minutes
EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio (WJW) – Police body-camera video obtained by the FOX 8 I-Team is shedding new light on the chaos that unfolded early Monday morning in East Cleveland, as officers responded to three separate shooting scenes in a period of 90 minutes.
Investigators say the gunfire erupted as large crowds gathered at impromptu parties along Euclid Avenue, celebrating the annual Shaw High School Reunion weekend.
The video showed an officer jumping out of his cruiser after the first report of gunfire on Euclid, and asking people still crouched on the ground, “are you all right, are you all right?”
The video showed that the goal of the first officers arriving at the scene was to protect participants fleeing from the gunfire.
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One of the patrolmen was heard urging dozens of people at the scene, “hey, keep coming this way, keep coming this way. Come on, get behind us!”
Officers then heard what they called “an excessive amount of gunfire” at a nearby a gas station on Euclid at Shaw Avenue and discovered that a number of people had been hit or grazed in the hail of bullets.
That’s when they decided to call police in surrounding communities for assistance.
A police supervisor on the video told dispatchers, “East Cleveland to headquarters, call Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, see if we can get mutual aid at Euclid and Shaw.”
The video showed the officers trying to determine how many victims had been hit, and which of them needed immediate medical attention.
An officer opened the door of an SUV and asked the driver, “are you shot? Where are you shot at?”
The woman replied that she had been shot, but there were so many emergency calls that the officer directed friends to drive her to the emergency room.
After learning there were other gunshot victims nearby, officers redirected firefighters and paramedics arriving at the second scene.
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Police then learned there had been more gunfire in a nearby neighborhood.
A dispatcher told officers, “headquarters to units, another call, 1300 Elwood. Person was shot in the head, 1300 Elwood.”
A group of officers called to the scene of the third shooting, reported within 90 minutes, discovered that a victim had been critically wounded. They helped carry the victim to a gurney and he was then rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.
Police say no arrests have been made in connection with the shootings. Investigators are asking anyone who can identify the gunmen to call the East Cleveland Detective Bureau at 216-681-2162 or Crime Stoppers at 216-252-7463 (216-25CRIME).
If the information leads to the arrest and/or conviction of the those responsible, tipsters could be eligible for up to a $5,000 reward.
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