LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Shooting calls in Lima have increased slightly compared to last year according to the Lima Police Department.
Lima police compiled statistics of shots fired calls, shootings, and victims with gunshot wounds reporting to hospitals up until August 17th of this year. They compared those stats to the same time period of last year. A total of 49 more calls were made to the department this year, which is a 16% increase. Officers tell us it's important to note that sometimes shots fired calls don't mean actual gunshots, but other things that could be interpreted as guns being fired.
"We get calls on shots fired constantly. It could be fireworks, it could be a car backfiring, it can be a plethora of different things. If officers go there and investigate and don't find any type of evidence of a shooting, then that would be marked as a no-report call," explained Sgt. Jason Garlock, Lima Police Department.
Lima police say it seems that more gang-related shootings, as well as retribution acts, are being reported when it comes to actual shootings, and urge the public to report anything.
"In the increase that we have seen, there is a lot of different affiliations, a lot of different gangs, it's retribution, a lot of gangs going back and forth and back and forth. And that's why it is so important for the Lima community, when you have evidence and knowledge of these issues and situations as they are happening, they need to come forward, they need to talk with us," added Sgt. Garlock.
In total, 274 shooting calls were made in 2022 from January 1st to August 17th, and this year, during the same time period, a total of 323 calls were made.
