CINCINNATI — Cincinnati police are investigating a shooting in Over-the-Rhine that left one person dead early Friday morning on East McMicken avenue, just past Grant Park.
The area is no stranger to gun violence -- nearly a dozen people were shot there in one night last summer.
Mitch Morris of the Cincinnati Works Phoenix Program said the violence has a painful pattern.
“It's a ripple effect once something like this happens,” Morris said. “It always hurts."
The area in and around Grant Park has been a hot spot for shootings for years. Police and neighbors have been working hard to clean it up, but the issue of gun violence persists.
"It's been a 911 call for many years and we are out here fighting hard,” Morris said.
Because of that, Morris said there's been an increased effort to do more community conversations. Not just in OTR, but in all neighborhoods with a high amount of gun violence.
“Getting in the community and getting people to come out and talk about some of the despairs in your community. If you need street lights or you need education or you need a job, we're bringing those resources to the table," Morris said.
According to city data, there were 45 shootings in OTR in 2020. Six were fatal. Friday's shooting is the first fatal shooting near Grant park this year.
Sergeant George Jason is the District 1 neighborhood liaison supervisor. He said a heavier police presence near the park has been requested by some people in the community.
"We get a lot of calls from concerned citizens, businesses, they just remind us that they would like to see police out walking,” Jason said. "We're trying to build a relationship with the community."
Even with added prevention efforts, shootings tend to spike during the summer months.
"We know these things are going to happen, they do happen, but we will continue to put as many officers out there as possible,” Jason said.
Morris said the longer summer days also gives CPD the chance to do more community outreach with the added daylight.
