AKRON, Ohio — Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett, Mayor Dan Horrigan and other community leaders spoke on Friday night following the death of a 4-year-old female and a 40-year-old male who were shot in Akron.
According to the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office, the child has been identified as Journei Tolbert, and the 40-year-old has been identified as Johnny L. Gaiter, both of Akron.
Tolbert is the niece of Jayland Walker's late fiancée, Jay’Meisha Beasley. A relative confirmed this to News 5 on Saturday.
The shooting happened around 9 p.m. on the 700 block of Princeton Street, which is located in the Summit Lake neighborhood.
Horrigan stressed that the "gun violence needs to stop."
"Once again, we've lost an innocent life to gun violence and another tragedy for this community,” he said. “And I can't stress enough about a number of cities across the country, but there are a lot of heightened tensions in the city right now."
Officers responded to a call at around 9:15 p.m. for shots fired, with details of a small child and adult male shot, according to Mylett.
Mylett issued the following statement regarding the shooting:
“This has been a very difficult week for Akron. The tensions are running high in this city and as the pastor said, we are asking people to stand down for at least for 48 hours. Let the temperature come down. And as the mayor has said and has said since the beginning, we will meet with anybody. We will listen. Absolutely. This is our community. We love this community. We love the people in this community. The police department has responsibilities that we need to address on our own. And I'm here to tell you, as the chief of police, we're going to have processes in place. This mayor and the committees that he's put together worked so hard to establish a body cam program, releasing body cams with footage within seven days, getting an independent outside investigation. We're moving in the direction that the people want.”
Pastor Bradley Reeves stressed that it takes more than just the police to make a change in the community, but those who are part of it as well.
“But it takes not just the community, but the police and everyone,” said Reeves. “Not one side, however many sides you want to make this. Everybody has to do it because if you ask one thing and the other one doesn't. What you have is a massacre. And we can't have that here. This is our city.”
This is an open investigation and information will be updated as it becomes available, according to Mylett.
“We're just now getting information on what happened and how it happened,” he said. “But it's all linked to gun violence that it's not only impacting us here in Akron, but nationally. And it's got to stop.”
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