CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — Cleveland Heights Police are searching for a pair of young individuals they believe are connected to several early morning shootings Thursday.
The investigation comes after another shooting in Cleveland Heights Tuesday morning and an armed robbery nearby in South Euclid late Tuesday afternoon.
“In this neighborhood, it surprises me,” said Lawrence Moore. “But I’m not surprised because of the times that we live in.”
The longtime Cleveland Heights resident described his neighborhood on Quilliams Road near an elementary school as quiet and safe. But around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, several doors down from Moore’s home, a man was shot in his driveway as he returned home from work.
According to Cleveland Heights Police, the 53-year-old man flagged down an officer on patrol and told him he had been shot by two young people dressed in all black. He said the pair shot through the passenger door of his truck, and bullets hit him in both legs.
Less than an hour later, as investigators were processing the scene at Quilliams Road, near Randolph Road, they heard more gunshots about seven blocks away. A 14-year-old boy described a similar pair of young men confronting him and a friend near a bus stop at Noble and Elmwood roads. The boy was hit by gunfire as he walked away.
Neither victims’ injuries appeared life-threatening.
“Our investigation tells us right now that the victims are separate. They don’t know each other, so I can’t speak on motive or why this happened. But it appears initially this could be the same suspects involved in both cases,” explained Cleveland Heights Police Chief Chris Britton. “It just seems random. And the victims were picked on intentionally for whatever reason.”
The chief said his investigators do not believe they’re the same suspects involved in a Tuesday morning shooting in the city on St. Albans Road. In that case, another person was shot in a vehicle by a pair of young people. Britton said that the shooting did not appear random. Police have arrested a juvenile and are looking for a second young person involved.
“This is an unusual series of events that happened in a short time here,” Britton said.
It’s unclear if another nearby event could be related to any of the Cleveland Heights shootings this week.
Around 4:40 p.m. Tuesday, the U.S. Postal Service reported an armed robbery on the South Euclid side of Quilliams Road, just over a half mile north of the Thursday morning shooting on the same street.
South Euclid Police describe a similar pair of young people, both wearing Halloween masks at the time, stealing a postal key from a mail carrier. Investigators from both police and USPS are searching for the robbers.
Cleveland Heights Police plan to increase targeted patrols in the neighborhood while the suspects involved in the Thursday morning shootings remain at large.
Moore said he doesn’t believe the recent events reflect the neighborhood as a whole, but he is concerned about several bad actors.
“I could be walking going in my house, with my back turned, not paying attention, and the next thing I know, I could become a victim while I’m ducking or something,” he said.
Cleveland Heights Police are asking anyone with information regarding this week’s shootings to contact the department at 216-291-4987.
Anyone with information about the armed robbery in South Euclid can call police there at 216-691-4283 or USPS at 877-876-2455 and say “law enforcement.” USPS said all information will be kept confidential.
