It seems as if shootings in Lima have become more and more common. What's even more alarming is that teens seem to be involved in almost all of them.
Lima police say about 90 percent of these shootings are gang related.
Just this last weekend, two shootings less than two hours hours apart. On Sunday, an 18-year-old was arrested in Columbus on a murder warrant. In connection to a fatal robbery last month.
Earlier this year a 16-year-old involved Lima fatal shooting, and two other young men involved in a bar shooting that injured three.
All of these incidents, police say, are gang related, meaning at least one party is affiliated with the local gang population.
"Right now the main affiliation with the gangs is east side gang and north side, which they have other affiliation within those gangs," said Detective Steve Stechschulte with the Lima Police Department.
Police say traffic stops and talking to people who are affiliated with these gangs or groups help them figure out who's who. As far as the weapons used in recent shootings, some may come from addicts who exchange them for drugs, but most are from burglaries.
"Everybody comes to us and say what are you going to do to stop the gang problem," said Stechschulte.
And that's when police say they increase traffic stops and patrol in areas they see more gang activity in based on past crimes.
"When we do it, often the complaint is that we're stopping too many cars, or we're doing too much patrol in a certain area," Stechschulte said.
Officials say there's only so much they can do on their side of the law to help discourage violent acts. But that the solution has to come from within the community.
"The gang issue is going to be best solved by the family themselves, by the support system these young kids have around them, and what they grow up in," he said.
Lima police say it's also difficult to get witnesses and victims to testify in court in fear of retaliation.
