2 Dead, 3 Injured in Shooting at Fireworks Gathering

Police don't know yet whether incident near Cincinnati park was random or targeted
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 5, 2021 5:45 AM CDT
They Came to Watch the Fireworks. Then, Gunshots
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/carlballou)

Two people died and three others were wounded in a shooting in downtown Cincinnati on the Fourth of July, police said. Gunfire broke out Sunday night in the area of Smale Riverfront Park, Lt. Col. Lisa Davis told reporters at a news conference. One person died at the scene, and another died at a local hospital. The three other people who were shot were taken to hospitals. Two have minor injuries and the third is in critical condition, police said, per the AP. The shooting happened in the busy park amid a crowd that had been gathered to watch fireworks. Davis said about 400 to 500 teenagers were at the park at the time of the shooting, which WLWT notes happened around 10:45pm, as police were clearing the area. The ages of the people who were shot weren't immediately available.

Amber Gray told WXIX-TV she was at the park with her son when the gunfire erupted. "We heard screaming. ... We heard more shots, and we saw everyone running and screaming." She added that she grabbed her son and ran to her car to get away. Police didn't immediately have information on a suspect. It was too early to know whether the shooting was random or targeted, Davis said. "At this point we really need people that were around that saw something that recorded video to provide that information to us," Cincinnati Police Department Lt. Steve Saunders says, per WLWT. "It is a very complicated scene, and we feel for those who have lost loved ones tonight."

(More Cincinnati stories.)

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