Family members and community leaders are grieving after a violent weekend in Cincinnati. At least four teenagers were injured or killed in the shootings between Saturday morning and Monday morning. “My first reaction was wow, here we go,” said East Westwood Community Council President Rodney Christian. “Spring isn’t here. If it doesn’t wake people up now! We just can’t make light of it.” Two of the crime scenes were in Westwood, minutes away from a Christian church and the East Westwood community center. as a safe haven for local youth. Christian and Te’Airea Powell spend hours each week at the center, working to improve the community and invest in youth. Christian admits to being worried about the retaliatory violence. “Unfortunately, it could be someone else because someone is crazy and out for revenge or something,” he said. Powell is concerned about the repeated trauma that minors experience from witnessing violence or knowing someone who has been killed. said. “Seeing someone you spend every day with laying on the ground really affects you.” Two people were injured, including a 16-year-old girl who was shot in the leg, in a shooting on Harrison Avenue in Westwood early Monday morning. Saturday morning on Clearbrook Drive in Paddock Hills. A 17-year-old and a 13-month-old were shot. The 17-year-old remains in critical condition as of Monday. Lamar “Mar” Spikes, 16, was shot and killed Saturday night on Dartmouth Drive in Westwood. He later died at a hospital. He , is the second Taft student killed in nine months. Cincinnati Public Schools released the following statement: “Cincinnati Public Schools Taft High School student Lamar Eastman is mourning the shooting and killing of Spikes. We recognize this tragic event and our sympathy and support goes out to the family, friends and school community. Counselors will be on hand to provide ongoing support when students and staff return to school on Tuesday, February 21.” Powell and Christian visited New York City over the summer with other leaders and the deputy mayor to learn about violence prevention efforts in the city’s districts. , was encouraging and also kind of scary because they have an entire department in their city hall dedicated to preventing gun violence. We don’t have that,” Powell said. “But it’s like, wow, they got $100 million. If we’re lucky, we might barely get $10 million.” Powell and Christian both said community leaders need financial resources to have a greater impact on youth and try to break the cycle of violence. “We’re not going to stop. Once these cameras are turned off, we start working,” Christian said. “We’ll have to rally those troops to make it happen.”
Family members and community leaders are grieving after a violent weekend in Cincinnati. At least four teenagers were injured or killed in the shootings between Saturday morning and Monday morning.
“My first reaction was wow, here we go,” said East Westwood Community Council President Rodney Christian. “Spring isn’t here. If it doesn’t wake people up now! We just can’t take it lightly.”
Two of the crime scenes were in Westwood, minutes from a Christian church and community center in East Westwood, which serves as a safe haven for local youth.
Christian and Te’Airea Powell spend hours each week at the center, working to improve the community and invest in youth. Christian admits to being worried about the retaliatory violence.
“Unfortunately, it could be someone else, because somebody’s crazy or taking revenge or something,” he said.
Powell is concerned about the repeated trauma that minors experience from witnessing violence or knowing someone who has been killed.
“One of my good friends, it’s been 13 years since he was killed. I think that’s the biggest thing for me. When I see these kids, I understand what they’re going through,” Powell said. “Seeing someone you’ve been with every day lying on the ground really affects you.”
Two people, including a 16-year-old girl who was shot in the leg, were injured in a shooting on Harrison Avenue in Westwood early Monday morning.
A 17-year-old and 13-month-old boy were shot on Clearbrook Drive in Paddock Hills early Saturday morning. As of Monday, the 17-year-old remains in critical condition.
On Saturday night, someone shot 16-year-old Lamar “Mar” Spikes on Dartmouth Drive in Westwood. He later died in the hospital. He is the second Taft student killed in nine months.
Cincinnati Public Schools released the following statement: “Cincinnati Public Schools is mourning the shooting and killing of Taft High School student Lamar Eastman Spikes. We recognize this tragic event and our sympathy and support go out to the family, friends and school community. Counselors on Tuesday, February 21 Be in place to provide ongoing support as students and staff return to school.”
Powell and Christian visited New York over the summer with other leaders and the vice mayor. The goal was to learn about violence prevention efforts in urban areas.
“It was encouraging and also kind of scary because they have a whole department at city hall that deals with gun violence prevention. We don’t have that,” Powell said. “But it’s almost like, wow, they got $100 million. If we’re lucky, we might barely get 10.”
Powell and Christian both said community leaders need financial resources to have a greater impact on youth and try to break the cycle of violence.
“We will not stop. Once these cameras are turned off, we start working,” Christian said. “We’re going to have to rally these troops to make it happen.”