AKRON, Ohio — Tuesday marks one month since the June 2 mass shooting in Akron that left one dead and 27 injured. Concerns over the shooting led to the cancellation of Juneteenth festivals, leaving many wondering if July 4 events would meet the same fate, but city officials decided not to cancel celebrations.
Most notably, the annual Rib, White, and Blue Festival returns to Lock 3 downtown from July 3 to July 6.
"We've been coordinating with the community, with local businesses, as well as different city entities to make sure that we can provide a safe environment for the community to come down and celebrate the Fourth of July," Akron Police Lieutenant Brent Bauknecht told 3News Monday evening. "We have some private security that's working with the city as well as several officers that are going to be both on Main Street and down here in Lock 3, as well as the surrounding areas, to make sure people coming and going from the event will also have an enjoyable time.”
Bauknecht emphasized the department's belief that the safety plan is sufficient.
"On the police department, it is all-hands-on-deck on the Fourth of July," he said. "We do have plenty of officers coming into work to work both the Rib Fest, the Lock 3, the fireworks downtown, the fireworks up in North Hill, as well as Fulton Airport."
Bauknecht noted that the mass shooting influenced some decisions that were made.
"Obviously, any time you have some type of large incident like that in the city, that always weighs on your mind a little bit as we're putting these together," he explained.
WKYC asked him if officials had any update on the search for suspects in that case.
"As of now, we don't have an update for the public," he responded. "The investigation is going as well as expected. We have them following down every single lead that we have been getting in, so we definitely appreciate the public's willingness to reach out to us."
Citing safety concerns raised by members of Akron City Council after the mass shooting, Mayor Malik announced last month that Juneteenth events on city-owned property had been canceled. City Council President Margo Sommerville then publicly expressed her disappointment that legislators not asked to be a part of the safety planning for that weekend, but on Monday, she told 3News Council leadership was indeed briefed on the plan for July 4 events.
"That's what we appreciate," she said. "We want to make sure that there is communication so that we know what plans are in place, so that we make sure that people can enjoy themselves and celebrate the holiday, but in a safe way."
While she believed the city's plan for those Juneteenth events was insufficient, officials disagreed with her. Regardless, the Council president approves of the plan for the Fourth of July.
"I'm hoping that we've learned something, and I think there's several things that we could have learned," she expressed. "No. 1 is that communication is key."
The city asks that anyone with tips on the June 2 mass shooting to please contact the Akron Police Department Detective Bureau at (330) 375-2490 or (330) 375-2Tip. information can also be submitted to Summit County Crime Stoppers at (330) 434-COPS.
In addition, a city spokesperson says they have reached out to all vendors affected by the Juneteenth festival cancellations about how they can request reimbursements, with a deadline of Aug. 1.