AKRON, Ohio — After a 21-year-old male was gunned down in broad daylight at Patterson Park on Sunday, one resident is pleading for change.
Patterson Park is secluded off Ontario Street and Lucille Avenue.
Surrounding the park is a neighborhood mainly comprised of older families.
Brian McGuinness and his wife have lived in the Patterson Park neighborhood since the late 1990s.
After a deadly shooting along the fence line of the park’s basketball court Sunday afternoon, McGuinness said, “enough is enough.”
At approximately 3 p.m., officers responded to the 600 block of Lucille Avenue after multiple calls reported gunfire in the area, police said.
RELATED: 1 found dead after broad daylight shooting at Akron park, police say
When officers arrived, they found Keion LaShawn DeGrate, 21, unresponsive in a grassy area near the basketball courts, APD said.
Officials say EMS and a member of the medical examiner's office responded to the scene, and DeGrate— who was struck multiple times— was pronounced dead.
"Here's yet another incident of senseless gun violence. What's even more troubling and I think this is important to note is that there were rifle casings. Those are high caliber, higher velocity," Akron Police Captain Michael Miller shared Sunday night.
According to police, the exact circumstances surrounding the incident are unknown. However, based on preliminary information, officials say at least one vehicle, possibly an SUV, fled from the scene after an unknown person fired multiple gunshots.
Akron Police has confirmed a vehicle potentially linked to the shooting has been recovered. It's now being tested for DNA.
APD says over a dozen rifle casings were recovered, along with other evidence collected at the scene.
"I have little nieces and nephews that's here as well. It's kind of scary with the kids and stuff like that being around," said one neighbor who wishes to remain anonymous.
As of Tuesday night, no updates have been provided by APD regarding an arrest.
While the fatal shooting happened in broad daylight, McGuinness said there needs to be some crucial changes that could have prevented it: surveillance cameras and working light fixtures.
“It's a big issue for me,” McGuiness said. “If there was a camera mounted somewhere monitoring traffic in and out of the parking lot, they'd have the vehicle on camera. They'd probably have the person who did the shooting on camera,” McGuiness said.
McGuinness said, to his knowledge, that Patterson Park has never had surveillance cameras, but it has been covered in lights before.
I stopped by the park Tuesday night, and there are several light fixtures throughout the park, but not a single one was in use.
McGuinness explained that the Patterson Park Community Center behind his home was knocked down about a year ago, causing the generator to fuel the park lights to go out.
Ground was broken for a new community center in October 2023.
Construction is expected to total $7.8 million and be complete by early 2025, according to North Akron Schools.
Until then, McGuinness said the area surrounding it is plummeting.
“[There are] drug deals, shooting guns off in the air who knows where and then peeling out, coming in here [and] doing donuts. We had a guy come in here three weeks ago in a minivan was doing donuts around the parking lot and slammed into the trash can, slammed into a light pole. There's been underage drinking going on in here. [I’m] finding used condoms laying all over the parking lot and it's just, in my opinion, gotten out of hand,” McGuiness added.
McGuiness said he’s tried working through a solution with Ward 2 Councilman Phil Lombardo but has not seen any improvements.
“He's really good about taking care of the streetlights and making sure the city is staying on top of them and everything. I try to stay in touch with him about it, but no, there hasn't been any movement yet,” McGuiness noted. “I don't know if it's a cure all but it's a step in the right direction and I think it's a pretty good step.”
I’ve reached out to the City of Akron and Lombardo several times since Monday night but haven’t received a response.
“I’ll never lose hope. You [have to] keep plugging away and try to reach an agreement with somebody, somewhere. Somebody will decide it’s the right thing to do,” McGuiness said.
News 5 will continue reaching out to both the City of Akron and Lombardo for updates regarding the lighting in Patterson Park.
A City of Akron spokesperson responded Wednesday morning and said, "In our 2025 Capital Budget, we are including funding to replace the lights at Patterson. This will put all new LED fixtures in the area."
The total allocation for the lights is approximately $5,000.
The lights will be installed once the new Patterson Park Community Center is finished, according to the spokesperson.
The community center will be equipped with surveillance cameras.
