Eddie Parries is a regular at Zanzibar Soul Fusion restaurant on Shaker Square.
He lives a 30 second walk away, just behind Zanzibar, a stone's throw from where Zanzibar co-owner Akin Affrica was shot Thursday night around 11:15.
Cleveland Police say it was a masked man who shot Affrica twice in the leg. The gunman was waiting for Affrica as he walked out the back door to his car.
Affrica was listed in stable condition Friday night. A manager at the restaurant says he is expected to recover.
Parries says Affrica is "always friendly and a pleasure to speak with."
Brandon Chroslowski owns EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute on the square. In an interview with Russ Mitchell about running for mayor of Cleveland, Chroslowski said flat out that one of his primary concerns in Cleveland is the number of people shot.
"A good friend of mine, Akin from Zanzibar was shot yesterday. It's happening on a daily basis. Safety, safety, safety has to be the biggest issue," Chroslowski said.
Eddie, who has lived here 26 years, says "this shooting is not indicative of the neighborhood or of Zanzibar" and has one word for the masked gunman police are still looking for.
"I would say coward," Parries says matter of factly.
"In 26 years the square has gone uphill and downhill. Now it's primarily restaurants and it's a great attraction," says Parries.
Akin Africa told police he has no reason to believe anyone would be targeting him personally. According to the the manager at Zanzibar, Akin will be offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of whoever shot him