Akron in the Crossfire: Data shows grim picture of growing gun violence
The number and frequency of gun homicides in Summit County has doubled in the past decade — a trend that's worsened since the pandemic, especially among youths.
"Akron in the Crossfire" is the Akron Beacon Journal's multiweek, in-depth reporting project exploring the reasons for rising gun violence in the community, as well as the impact and possible solutions.
'It's just out of control.' Summit County data paints grim picture of growing gun violence
To build a comprehensive picture of how gun violence is playing out in our community, the Beacon Journal combined hospital and death data accessed by Summit County Public Health, the time and location of 11,008 shots-fired reports catalogued by the Akron Police Department and details from 421 Summit County death certificates for fatal gunshot wound victims since 2019.
We spent time in Akron's 5 hotspots for gunfire. Here's what residents had to say
In five sub-neighborhoods of Akron where the Beacon Journal found the highest concentrations of documented gunfire, reporters and photographers knocked on doors and talked about gun violence on front porches.
Using U.S. Census Bureau population estimates, reporters and photographers mapped the per capita concentrations of reported gunfire and canvassed the five highest-impact city blocks in South Akron, East Akron, Sherbondy Hill, Summit Lake and West Akron. These five neighborhoods include 4% of Akron homes and residents but 13% of the city’s reported shootings.
The 37 residents who spoke know gun violence all too well. They were offered to give only first names or speak anonymously about active threats.
'I am scared.' Residents share their stories in 5 Akron neighborhoods with most gunshots
Guided by police reports and 911 calls that point to the most frequent neighborhoods for shootings, Beacon Journal reporters and photographers knocked on doors and talked about gun violence on front porches to better understand life set to the soundtrack of gunshots.
Using U.S. Census Bureau population estimates, reporters and photographers mapped the per capita concentrations of reported gunfire and canvassed the five highest-impact city blocks in South Akron, East Akron, Sherbondy Hill, Summit Lake and West Akron. These five neighborhoods include 4% of Akron homes and residents but 13% of the city’s reported shootings.
Residents were offered anonymity to speak candidly about the violence, including active murder investigations and the source of guns in their neighborhoods.
'Get the guns out of the hands of the kids.' Akron residents share gun violence solutions
Residents in high-crime areas fear a creeping sense of normalcy in Akron, which like other major U.S. cities is seeing a sharp uptick in teens and young adults killing each other with guns.
“I don’t know if there’s anything we can do. These kids are running wild,” said Stephanie, 72, of East Akron.
At the city’s dangerous intersection of youths and guns, residents painted a nuanced picture of a problem decades in the making — a problem that’s evolved into something more sinister since the upheaval of social and economic structures during the pandemic.
Inside 'Akron in the Crossfire,' a new Beacon Journal series on gun violence
From Editor Michael Shearer: Our reporting team gathers every week to discuss the journalism we know matters the most to our readers.
Many months ago, our conversation turned to the never-ending barrage of gun violence shared weekly by Akron police. Those police narratives inform us all but can become routine and detached from the real pain inflicted on so many people. So, editors urged our team to begin looking for a deeper understanding of what's happening in Akron and across Summit County.
As you will see, they've delivered. Read the full column.
Bullet fired at Lane Field ruptures little boy's spleen, shatters Akron community's heart
Tyren Thompson wasn't with his classmates at Helen Arnold to start the year. On the first day of school, a surgeon was stitching his abdomen back together after a bullet tore through several organs in his 50-pound body earlier that week.
That bullet was one of about a dozen allegedly fired by a 16-year-old boy in a crowd of hundreds in the middle of back-to-back pee wee football games on a Sunday afternoon in Akron.
That single bullet damaged more than just Tyren's body. It also ripped a path of destruction through his family, his football team, his friends, his school and his community.
Did the shooting of a 7-year-old pee wee football player tamp down gun violence in Akron?
The bullet that struck a 7-year-old boy at Lane Field may have had the unintended effect of subduing gun violence across Akron, according to a Beacon Journal analysis of police data.
“Every weekend from the month prior — someone was shot,” observed Helen Arnold Principal Lamonica Davis, whose student, Tyren, was hit on the playground at Lane Field after playing pee wee football. “Now all the sudden, I haven’t heard anything since Tyren."
To measure the perception that gunfire calmed after the Aug. 20 shooting at Lane Field, both within the neighborhood and across Akron, the Beacon Journal requested and received an updated listing of shots fired reports from the Akron Police Department.
Read more about our findings here.
'It's just continuous': Gunshot patients are becoming more common in Akron's ERs
Dr. Laura Pollauf remembers the first gunshot victim she ever treated. It was actually an adult who arrived at Akron Children’s Hospital’s emergency department overnight in the late 1990s.
“It stood out because it was something that I had not experienced,” said Pollauf, who has been with the hospital for 30 years.
Back then, treating a patient with a gunshot wound was a rarity for the pediatric hospital.
“It was so unusual and now, unfortunately, it’s not,” said Pollauf, the division director of pediatric emergency medicine at Children’s.
Members of trauma teams across Akron’s three Level I trauma emergency departments – designated by the American College of Surgeons to be able to treat the most life-threatening emergencies – say they have seen an exponential increase in gunshot wound victims in the last few decades.
Read the full story here.
Akron’s 3 hospitals seek solutions to city’s gun violence problem
There might not be a fast cure, but Akron’s three hospital systems are working to find ways to curb the city’s escalating gun violence.
A representative from the Akron mayor’s office has been in touch with trauma staff at Akron Children’s Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Akron General and Summa Akron City Hospital to begin discussions about how to address the violence.
Hospital officials said the talks are still in the early stages, and no group meetings have been arranged.
In the meantime, the three hospitals each have programs in place to address gun violence and to help victims recover mentally and physically.
Read the full story here.
'Every time I go to sleep I cry': Akron teens intimately discuss gun violence and grief
Guns and violence are the stuff of childhood memories for a 16-year-old high school athlete who doesn’t step outside his South Akron home for anything but a ride to school or practice.
When he was 7, he remembers pee wee football coaches telling his team to freeze until the gunfire stopped during their game at Lane Field – the same park where a 7-year-old boy was shot this summer.
“That was really scary, because as a kid, you’re being told to stay in one spot while people are shooting around you and real close to you. It messes you up a little bit,” said the teen, who went on to talk about the death of his classmate Ethan Liming last year and his friend Jerry Davis III a week later.
Read the full story here.
Guns, tears, fears and hope: A daylong look inside Summit County Juvenile Court
The Akron Beacon Journal recently spent a day in Summit County’s juvenile court to see what kind of cases were moving through the courtrooms and how officials were handling them.
It was a day that dealt with the impact of guns, fears of incarceration, and hopes for the future.
Read the full story here.
'Arms race': Summit County kids say they carry guns for protection from other kids
Why are so many kids carrying guns? Summit County juvenile court officials say they noticed an uptick about five years ago than turned into a surge during the pandemic.
Read the full story here.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Gun violence growing in Akron, Summit County, police data reveals
