A surveillance video showing dozens of gunshots and panicked crowds fleeing Lee-Harvard Plaza has intensified community demands for stronger public safety measures, proactive policing, and youth-focused violence prevention in Cleveland’s East Side.
Seven Teens Wounded Amid Reports of Drag Racing
In the early morning hours of Sunday, June 8, Cleveland police responded to multiple 911 calls reporting drag racing near Lee Road and Harvard Avenue. Before they could arrive, reports of gunfire followed. Officers found seven teenagers suffering from gunshot wounds — three 18-year-old women, two 18-year-old men, a 19-year-old woman, and a 19-year-old man.
Three victims were driven to area hospitals by private vehicle. EMS transported the other four. According to police, none sustained life-threatening injuries.
Firearms Recovered, Suspect Detained
The Shaker Heights Police Department stopped a vehicle connected to the scene and recovered three firearms. The 21-year-old driver was arrested and charged with improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle. A second car, used to transport two injured teens to the hospital, was later towed; two more firearms were recovered, bringing the total to five.
Though one suspect is in custody for a weapons offense, Cleveland police have not yet identified who discharged the weapons that night. Surveillance footage from a nearby gas station and plaza businesses captured the chaos — people running for cover, cars speeding away, and what Deputy Chief Jarod Schlacht estimated to be more than 70 rounds fired…