CLEVELAND — Another violent weekend in Cleveland has left two people dead and 10 others injured as police scramble to find suspects.
Detectives are currently investigating nine separate shootings that took place during a period beginning late Friday night and ending early Monday morning. Of the known incidents, two were homicides that took place within roughly an hour of each other.
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Officers were called to the 3700 block of East 50th Street around 4:30 a.m. Saturday following a reported argument in the area. Witnesses said they heard multiple gunshots and a 32-year-old man was later found dead in a driveway. He has since been identified as Theo Echols, of Brook Park.
Not long afterward, just before 6 a.m., a group of people arrived at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and told officials a teen inside their car had been shot as they drove after leaving a club on the 1000 block of East 79th Street. Nineteen-year-old Thomas Gilliard later died from his injuries and police confiscated several guns from the after-hours spot where an initial incident occurred, but no arrests have been made at this time.
The seven other weekend shootings occurred as follows:
- Friday, 8 p.m.: 30-year-old man shot in the face near West 48th Street and Clark Avenue; taken to MetroHealth Medical Center via private transport
- Saturday, 2:12 a.m.: Two 23-year-old men shot in their feet near East 9th Street and Lakeside Avenue downtown; both taken by ambulance to Metro
- Saturday, 10 a.m.: 21-year-old man shot in leg on the 1300 block of East 52nd Street; taken to Metro via private auto
- Saturday, 5:53 p.m.: 17-year-old boy shot in leg on 4200 block of Bohn Road; taken by private auto to St. Vincent Charity Medical Center
- Sunday, 12:08 a.m.: 40-year-old man shot in right thigh and right pinky at HP gas station on Lorain Avenue; arrived at Cleveland Clinic Lutheran Hospital via private auto
- Sunday, 12:12 a.m.: 25-year-old woman shot in left thigh on 1900 block of East 101st Street; taken by paramedics to UH
- Sunday, 12:38 a.m.: Three people shot at The Dstrkt Hybrid Lounge on St. Clair Avenue, including a 40-year-old man in the abdomen, right arm, buttocks, right front, back thigh, and left ankle; taken by private auto to UH along with a 29-year-old man and 39-year-old man
In addition, a Cleveland police officer was injured after she was hit while directing traffic near East 13th Street and St. Clair Avenue, with the female suspect later being arrested in Shaker Heights on suspicion of OVI. There were also three fatal drug overdoses within the city.
Anyone with information regarding any of the unsolved crimes is urged to call the Cleveland Division of Police at (216) 623-5464 or anonymously via Cuyahoga County Crimestoppers at (216) 252-7463. Reward money of up to $5,000 may be available for information related to each of the two homicides.
