GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio — Three 22-year-olds are charged with felonious assault in connection to the shooting of a Garfield Heights man and his 6-month-old daughter.
Police responded around 4:45 p.m. Thursday to a reported shooting on Langton Ave. near E 111th St. Officers rushed the child and her father to nearby Marymount Hospital. The man suffered one gunshot wound to the hip. The baby was airlifted to MetroHealth Hospital in Cleveland with two gunshot wounds.
“It’s a beautiful neighborhood; it’s a good place to live. But we have the violence that we have all over,” said Tom Wright, who lives nearby where the shooting happened.
Neighbors told News 5 they saw the baby being pushed in a stroller down Langton Ave. by her parents. They stopped near East 111th St., and a heated exchange began with several people inside a car.
“I heard what I thought were fireworks. And my wife looked out the window and could see a gold car in front of the house next door. A couple of minutes later, I heard what sounded like more fireworks coming from down the street. But they weren’t fireworks. It was an automatic weapon,” Wright recalled.
Police said a "neighborhood beef" led to the shooting. Friday, both victims’ conditions were stable. But many were still processing the violent event.
“There’s no sense to it,” Wright said.
Garfield Heights City Council President Tom Vaughn said, “Where’s society going? Where are they going?”
The councilman called the violence both tragic and frustrating. It wasn’t the first time in several years that a child was struck by gunfire in the city.
In March 2022, a 7-year-old was hit by a stray bullet while sitting in her family’s Garfield Heights living room. The little girl lost an eye.
“It’s not just a Garfield Heights problem, it’s not just a Cuyahoga County problem, but it’s a national problem,” Vaughn said. “How do we contain this? How do we control this? I wish there was a magic wand, but there isn’t.”
Vaughn said he’d like to see more support for young people and families to keep them out of trouble. He also said the city has been equipping its police department with the tools to apprehend violent offenders.
Several hours after the shooting, News 5 captured video of officers with tactical gear on nearby Wadsworth Avenue. Neighbors were asked to shelter in place while police negotiated, eventually entered a home and took several people into custody.
News 5 is still working to confirm the relation of those arrests to the shooting, but police do confirm the three suspects were found on Wadsworth Avenue.
Neighbors said they were grateful for the quick police action, but they were also concerned about the safety of their families.
“Where are we safe? Not in our neighborhoods, not on my front porch. Am I safe? It’s terrible,” Wright said. “But there is hope. There are lots of good people still.”
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