Canton Police are investigating a shooting that occurred in the Football Hall of Fame Village Sunday, authorities said. A suspect has been identified and is wanted.
On Sunday, police responded to the 2100 Block of Hall of Fame Way around 4 p.m. for a shooting.
One person was in critical condition, police said.
"We're told that it was an alleged domestic dispute. That's all we know about that and that there was an altercation," said Anne Graffice, the executive vice president of public affairs and global marketing for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Darryl Harmon, 35, is wanted for felonious assault in connection with the shooting, which happened after an argument, the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force said.
Harmon is from Antioch, Tennessee.
Harmon is wanted and has not yet been taken into custody, a news release from the task force states.
Authorities described Harmon as a black male, 5 feet, 4 inches tall and about 122 pounds in weight. He is known to frequent the Canton and Cleveland areas.
He drives a red Ford Ranger truck with license plate number 082BBMV.
Anyone with information on Harmon's whereabouts is asked to call the task force at 1-866-4WANTED or to send a tip online here. Tipsters can remain anonymous, and reward money is available.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame Village put a notice on its website advising people the village will be closed on Monday.
Due to a very unfortunate isolated incident which occurred in a common area at the Hall of Fame Village campus, the Village will be closed for the rest of this evening. Also, out of an abundance of caution, we will remain closed tomorrow, Monday, March 4th.
The safety and security of our guests, our team, and our entire campus is our number one priority- our closing of the Village is being done as a reflection of that commitment. We have welcomed millions of guests over the last few years since opening, and take great pride in creating a safe and secure environment for them to enjoy.
Please check our website for any updates to campus operating hours for Tuesday, March 5th. We look forward to welcoming all our guests back at that time.
Across the nation, large venues, events and public spaces are seeing more shootings similar to Sunday's.
“This is a tough, you know, it's become both common, but also unpredictable," said Daniel Flannery.
Flannery is a professor at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western and the Director of the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education. He said that unpredictability also makes safety more challenging.
“So, even if you have security cameras or you have security guards, in these public places, it's impossible to be every place all at once,” said Flannery.
But one way to prepare and ease that fear is through threat assessment protocols.
“First responders are being trained on, as well as other individuals in these public spaces and at events, in terms of what to look for and what to respond to,” said Flannery.
For the Pro Football Hall of Fame, though they had never experienced an incident like the one that took place on Sunday, they had been training and preparing for the possibility of one.
“We are are very well prepared, should it in fact ever happened. We have a crisis communication plan that we've already had in place. We do what we call tabletop exercises with local authorities and with any relative party that has a vested interest in making sure that prior to any larger event, we work through what possible scenarios could be,” said Graffice.
Graffice added that they have 24/7 security and 120 cameras, however, the increase in shootings has some parents and visitors concerned.
“You always worry about them, but when there more shootings, more violence in the world, you worry more about them,” said Pete Riffle, a parent visiting the Hall of Fame. "...it happens everywhere now, so you just live your life. If you live in fear all the time, you’re not going to live."
The Hall of Fame has increased security and is working with Canton Police. They said Monday businesses will open at their discretion, and on Tuesday, everything will be back to regular hours.
"Certainly, for us, it is always again about safety and security, and so, out of an abundance of caution, we wanted to make sure everybody was fully communicated with, and they were fully aware that we were handling the situation," Graffice said.
