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An 11-year-old boy killed in a weekend shooting in Cincinnati was identified today as Dominic Davis.
Police Chief Terri Theetge told reporters that a shooter in a sedan fired 22 rounds “in quick succession” into a crowd of children just before 9:30pm 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 hospitalised in stable condition.
A memorial where Dominic and the other children were shot lines the sidewalk with pictures, stuffed animals and dozens of colourful balloons.
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 neighbourhood” next to a park and near a historic elementary school, Mayor Aftab Pureval said at the news conference.
Dominic Davis’ father, Issac Davis, appeared at the conference along with Dominic’s mother and grandmother to urge whoever was responsible to turn themselves in.
“When will this stop? Will this ever stop?” Issac Davis asked.
“How many people have to bury their kids, their babies, their loved ones?”
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Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun violence protection group, said it counted nearly 300 shootings this year in Cincinnati, including some 30 in the neighbourhood where Dominic Davis was killed three days ago.
“No family should be forced to wonder how they will make it through,” said Pastor Jackie L. Jackson, program manager of the Everytown Survivor Network.
“No child should be gunned down. No family should be shattered because of senseless gun violence.
“At some point, for the sake of our children, families, communities, and our country, we must do more to keep them safe.”
Pureval called it “a horrific tragedy.”
“Our friends and neighbors are feeling unimaginable fear, trauma, and anger,” Pureval said.
He 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.
The shooting adds to the already devastating toll of gun violence on America’s youth.
And since 2020 – when firearms surpassed car crashes to become the leading cause of death for children in the US – gun-related injuries have sent children to emergency rooms at significantly higher rates than ever, new research shows.
