Community leaders call on Akron to focus on preventing violence after mass shooting

For two community leaders, prevention and not reaction should be the priority for the city of Akron after 27-year-old LaTeris Cook was killed and two dozen other people were wounded in a mass shooting early Sunday in East Akron.

The shooting, Ray Greene Jr. explained, revealed how the city lacks solution-oriented programming and funding in communities living in poverty.

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"It wasn't a mass shooting; it was more than that," said Greene, the executive director of the Freedom BLOC. "It's about a lack of investment in a community."

Greene and the Rev. Jaland Finney of Second Baptist Church called on the city to take action.

"[The mass shooting] gets everyone's attention, but what about before the guns go off?" Finney said. "We need a vision to prevent."

Akron city and police officials had provided no new updates as of late Tuesday afternoon regarding the search for the shooter and the conditions of the wounded, which included two who were listed in critical condition as of Sunday evening.

Akron City Council somberly acknowledged the shooting Monday evening, observing a moment of silence for the victims at the start of the council's weekly meeting.

In comments before the meeting was adjourned, Ward 6 Councilman Brad McKitrick said, "My heart goes out to everybody in the community."

He said that people from outside Ohio and from outside the country have reached out to him in the wake of the tragedy.

He praised the quick response of Akron's emergency personnel and thanked them for their actions on Sunday, saying that he was "proud" of how they handled the incident.

But as the impact of the shooting continues to reverberate through the city, including concerns that it may be part of a cycle of retaliation for previous shootings, some community groups say Akron needs to embrace dramatic changes if it is sincere about reducing violence in underserved neighborhoods.

Ray Greene Jr. says lack of access to resources drives up anxiety

For prevention to happen, Greene said the city and society need to recognize how underserved neighborhoods that lack proper funding are more at risk for violence on the scale of the June 2 shooting.

A lack of affordable and accessible housing, living wages, reliable transportation and other material goods adds stress to the everyday lives of the people in these communities, he explained. That anxiety is worsened by violent crime.

Mental health resources are scarce and underutilized while conflict resolution is not prioritized in schools, playing a factor in violent crime, Greene said.

Finney said there were signs something like this would happen, referring to prior shootings in the area, but there were no efforts to prevent further violence.

Police responded to at least three other shootings in the East Akron area in the two months preceding Sunday's gunfire. Although the incidents were not fatal, three people were hospitalized for gunshot wounds. Overall Akron has seen at least 12 fatal shootings in 2024.

How should the city invest in its underserved communities?

With a city budget of $815 million and roughly $60 million going to the police department, Greene said funds need to be refocused on the city's underserved populations, which include its Black and poor neighborhoods.

"Turn the budget upside down," Greene said. "The city is too focused on policing."

Greene said he would reinvest a portion of the police budget into mental health accessibility, conflict resolution programming, improved parks and recreation and other community-oriented solutions.

This doesn't mean he wants to see the police department defunded, he said, adding there is a need for police officers. He hopes by reprioritizing the city budget toward education and mental health that in a decade or two a new generation of teens and adults will hold each other accountable alongside a community-oriented police department.

To break the cycle of violence in Akron, Greene said schools and the city should prioritize funding conflict resolution classes, and the justice system should lean more heavily on programs that focus on mental health and violence prevention.

Greene said two such programs could make a difference if they were utilized more: Peace Circle and Akron Rites of Passage.

Coupled with these programs, he said, affordable and accessible housing and living wages would help underserved communities in Akron and across the nation.

What do we know about the mass shooting?

No arrests have been announced in the case as of Tuesday afternoon.

Summit County Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest. The U.S. Marshals Office is offering $7,500 and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives offered a reward of $10,000, bringing the total to $22,500.

Residents can help investigators anonymously by calling the Akron Police Department Detective Bureau at 330-375-2490, Summit County Crimestoppers at 330-434-COPS or texting your tips to TIPSCO at 274637.

Reporter Derek Kreider contributed to this report. Bryce Buyakie covers courts and public safety for the Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at bbuyakie@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @bryce_buyakie.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: After mass shooting, community leaders urge Akron to ramp up resources