LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Two people were injured in Lima Tuesday night in what detectives say is a gang-related revenge shooting.
The Lima Police Department rushed out to Cole and Spring just after 10PM. At least one gunman opened fire on a gathering that was letting out from a house. Detectives believe this is related to a recent string of shootings, beginning with the murder of 26-year-old DeJuan Adams on early Saturday morning of July 23rd.
"We had a large gathering here I think it might of been a birthday party, but there were a lot of kids here, a lot of adults, and someone managed to shoot up a car full of people, and it happened to have a 10-year-old in it. There's a 10-year-old and a 21-year-old at the hospital that's suffering from gunshot wounds, and we believe there's gang implications there, and it all spurs from Saturday morning's shooting at Sheryl's," says Lima Police Department Detective Steve Stechschulte.
Stechschulte says it appears the suspect or suspects ran off through a nearby parking lot and then jumped into a car, heading toward Kenilworth. He says there is no way to know who might be injured by this kind of escalation.
"When you don't care what kind of target you're taking, to me that's cowardly. They are coming to the point where they just don't care what kind of target they are looking at, and they are willing to shoot up any car, and now this is going to go back and forth all because of some disagreement that occurred between two adult males, and it's starting to get frustrating. If I was someone in the city that had some kind of knowledge on this, I would call, and give us the information whatever they have, because they should want this to stop as well," adds Stechschulte.
The police are reviewing footage from surveillance cameras in hopes of identifying the suspects. Anyone with information can contact Stetchschulte directly or through the police department or call Crimestoppers.
7/27/22 Press Release from the Lima Police Department: On 7/26/2022, at about 10:15 p.m., Lima Police were contacted in reference to a shooting in the area of Cole and Spring Streets, in Lima. Officers arrived to find two people shot and suffering from gunshot wounds. Multiple vehicles and a house, were also struck at the gunmen fired at a crowd of people. The initial investigation revealed that a gathering was letting out at a house on that intersection. While people were standing outside and getting into vehicles to leave, at least one gunman started shooting at them. Two individuals were struck with bullets and suffered non-life threatening injures. The two individuals shot were a 21 year old male and a 10 year old female, both from Lima, who were at the party. The two victims were transported to Mercy Health – St. Rita’s Medical Center, where they received treatment for the gunshot wounds. Their names are not being released at this time as the investigation is in the early stages.
This incident is believed to be related to a string of shootings, over the last few days, beginning with the homicide death of 26 year old Dejuan Adams, of Lima, shortly after midnight on Saturday, 7/23/2022. If anyone has information about this shooting or the shootings that have occurred over the last several days, please contact CrimeStoppers at (419)229-STOP (7867) or Lima Police Detective Steve Stechschulte, at (419) 221-5181.
