The Cleveland Division of Police has shed new light on what happened Tuesday afternoon when a student was shot and killed in front of approximately 25 people near John Adams High School. The Cleveland Metropolitan School District canceled classes at the school Wednesday and brought in grief counselors. Meanwhile, homicide detectives are asking for the public's help in identifying the shooter, who was reportedly clad in all black and was wearing a ski mask before directly walking up to the victim and shooting him multiple times in the head and chest.
Just after 3 p.m., an 18-year-old student, later identified by the medical examiner as Pierre McCoy of Cleveland, was at the bus stop near Corlette Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, according to CPD. An unknown man wearing a black puffy coat, ski mask, jeans and boots walked up to him and shot him multiple times, police said. The shooting happened as about 25 bystanders were at the bus stop. The shooter fled the scene after firing the shots.
The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office determined McCoy died at the scene. CMSD officials later confirmed that McCoy was a student at John Adams.
Throughout the morning and afternoon Wednesday, friends and strangers came to the bus stop to pay their respects and leave teddy bears and balloons. Some just silently and solemnly watched the makeshift memorial flutter in the wind.
Some tried to hold back their frustration and anger, asking themselves, "why does this keep happening?"
"It was like [the shooting was] planned. This has got to stop. This is ridiculous," said Mark Pinkney. "It happened in broad daylight outside of a school, in front of all [those] people and nobody knows something? Somebody's got to say something. Somebody got to know something or see something or know who that [shooter] is. They’re probably scared to say something to be being retaliated on."
Pinkney said he grew up in the surrounding neighborhood and has spent most of his adult life near Union-Miles. As a kid, he attended countless social events and football games at John Adams, which effectively became his home away from home. The brazen gun violence witnessed Tuesday afternoon was an absolute anomaly back when he was a student, Pinkney said.
"We never had nothing like that... If you had beef somebody, you would use your fists. You got in a fight and it was over with. No guns. No retaliation," Pinkney said. "Parents are going to wonder. Can I take or leave my kid at school? Because they might be the next one that gets shot."
It is unclear whether CMSD intends to proceed with regularly-scheduled classes at John Adams on Thursday. If Pinkney had his way, the school would be closed for the rest of the week just as a precaution, especially with the shooter on the lamb.
"We'll see what happens. This doesn't need to happen [anymore]," Pinkney said. "It doesn't need to happen at all. It's pitiful."
A $5,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the shooter. Anyone with information is asked to call Cleveland Police detectives at 216-623-5464 or CrimeStoppers at 216-25-CRIME.
Read more: John Adams high school closes Wednesday after student shot, killed at bus stop Tuesday
Cleveland Ward 2 Councilman Kevin Bishop called the shooting "unthinkable" and said no family should have to go through something like that. You can watch Bishop's remarks in the player below:
RELATED: Student shot and killed at bus stop near John Adams high school in Cleveland
You can watch News 5's previous coverage of the shooting below:
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