JoJuan Armor, of the mayor’s initiative to end gun violence, says he was shocked to see how many children were at a party that ended in a shooting late Sunday.
TOLEDO, Ohio – A man from downtown Toledo was expecting a lively party on July 4th with family, friends, and neighbors dropping by for lunch.
That didn’t happen.
“We’ve never had that kind of problem, we’ve never had that kind of problem. Somebody had to come from somewhere else and maybe do something,” said the host.
Now, one teenager is dead and 11 others are recovering from the shotincluding some of his own family.
“Grandchildren, cousins, you know everyone is out here. This is a family birthday, ”said the host.
JoJuan Armor, with the mayor’s initiative to end the gun violence, was there last night and this afternoon and says he was concerned about what he saw.
“Aside from the tragedy of loss of life, it was heartbreaking to see children roaming the streets,” Armor said.
He says the police needed to be called when the crowd got out of hand and that parents need to take more responsibility for the whereabouts of their children.
Of those shot, 11 were 19 years or younger. The youngest is only 11.
“The violence increases in the evening and second is that in Toledo, not just in Toledo, there are too many guns across the country. There are too many guns everywhere, so if we know that, why do we have our 10 year olds, 9 “year olds, 8 year olds outside after 11am?” Armor said.
He says we know there is a gun problem in our country and in our community, so it is time for the community to help solve the problem.
And after two decades, the man who started the kick-off party will think twice about it before hosting the event again.
“This is a sad situation, I feel bad, I hope everyone is fine,” said the hosts.
Armor says he’s having interviews this week to get more people on board to help curb community-level violence.
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