CLEVELAND — Early Saturday morning, a surveillance camera captured gunfire and the ensuing chaos in the parking lot of a remodeled Cleveland gas station at Lee Road and Miles Avenue.
It was one of three gas station shootings in a week. Two of the shootings turned deadly.
But one group is trying to steer young boys from the violence.
“It was a bunch of guys in the parking lot,” said store manager Jessie Lee.
Witnesses say a car meet-up and street take-over turned into chaos.
“And they just started shooting at each other,” Lee said.
Police say a 22-year-old man was hit and taken to the hospital in a private vehicle.
"We fixed it up; we just opened it,” Lee said.
Lee says he called the police.
“Am I supposed to come out here and turn into John Wayne and start shooting back like what am I supposed to do?” Lee said.
Gas station violence has happened in the past in Northeast Ohio. But this was the third shooting at a Cleveland gas station in a week. A 15-year-old boy died in one case on July 28 on East 140th Street, and a 23-year-old man died the day before after a shooting on East 116th Street.
“It’s outrageous we have to stop the killing, we have to stop this kind of crime,” said Cecil, a regular customer at the Lee Road gas station.
While speaking with customers, a man filling his tank invited News 5 Investigators to see how one group was trying to steer kids away from violence.
Kareem Smith is with The Safety Unit, a violence prevention and intervention program that works with teen boys who’ve caused trouble in school, including some he says who had family members involved in the gas station shootout.
“They all seen what’s happening in their community that shootout that happened at the gas station and a lot of them was traumatized by that,” Smith said.
His program is like a boot camp with a focus on education and mentorship. Smith says they try to fill a void and keep the boys from veering off track.
“A lot of them let us know that they don’t have any male role models in their life at home and we try to provide that,” Smith said.
Back at the gas station on Lee Road, Lee says they’ve tried armed security. They’ve already had to replace one window from being shot out.
“I’m more worried about people in the parking lot that have nothing to do with anything there’s random people coming after work to get gas and they’re in a random shootout,” Lee said.
News 5 Investigators asked Lee what he would say if he could speak with the people in the video.
“They’re throwing their lives away for nothing,” Lee said.
The Lee Road case is under investigation.
Anyone with information can call the Fourth District Detective Bureau at 216-623-5418.
