CLEVELAND — Less than 24 hours after a 14-year-old girl is killed in her own house, Mayor Justin Bibb says his number one priority is to keep the streets safe.
Bibb toured the Cleveland Police Real Time Crime Center with Governor Mike DeWine.
“Probably the most important thing this center can do is get the violent offenders off the streets before they kill someone else,” DeWine said.
But whoever shot up a house on Columbia Avenue around midnight killing 14-year-old Abebreanna Jackson in her own bed, is still on the streets.
Her mother and three other children survived a barrage of bullets from a car that pulled into the driveway.
“My heart grieves for that family,” said Bibb.
Bibb wouldn’t comment on the specific case but called the violent crime a systemic structural issue. He says they’ll work with city council to fully fund the center and make sure it’s working 2/7
“As mayor, my number one number one priority is to keep our streets safe and secure and I will use every resource I can,” said Bibb.
But emotions are running high on Columbia Avenue, where an upstairs window on the house is marked for bullet holes.
The shattered glass sits in a pile on the front porch.
Neighbors didn’t want to speak on camera with News 5. But one man told us he’s tired of talking and is doing some investigating of his own.
DeWine awarded the center with a nearly $400,000 Violent Crime Reduction grant. The money is for new technology, in part, to help identify people wanted by police.
Cleveland’s Interim Police Chief Wayne Drummond says they can enhance surveillance video and get it to officers on the streets in real-time.
“We’re very hopeful something was captured with either a vehicle or a suspect captured with civilian videos not only cameras up by the city but civilians as well,” said Drummond.
The governor says he’d like to see the Real Time Crime Center replicated around the state.
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