Caught on camera: Rapid gunfire shakes up Edgewater, Cudell neighborhoods

CLEVELAND (WJW) – Security cameras captured a rapid burst of gunfire over the weekend in an area of Cleveland that has been rattled by a series of violent crimes. 

Residents in the city’s Edgewater and Cudell neighborhoods were awakened on Saturday at 1:42 a.m. by the barrage of 15 gunshots.

Cleveland Police ShotSpotter technology pinpointed the exact location of the gunfire as the 9800 block of Detroit Avenue.

A concerned resident, who asked that he not be identified out of fear for the safety of his family, spoke to FOX 8.

“If you don’t have a reaction to this, there’s something wrong with you. People are scared and they should be. Nobody wants to get hurt while they’re sleeping in their bed,” he said.

The Edgewater resident says many of his neighbors were convinced that the shots were fired along West Boulevard near Clifton Boulevard.  

“Because it sounded a lot louder there, it sounded like it was so loud that the doors shook, the windows shook, “ said the concerned resident.

He also points out that the reckless actions of the gunman could have wounded or killed innocent Clevelanders.

“When you shoot that many rounds that fast, you’re not aiming at something. Those bullets are going everywhere and anywhere and I’m trying to stop a little kid from getting hit, trying to stop a mother from getting hit. It’s got to stop,” he said.

Cleveland police responded to the call early Saturday morning, but officers found no shell casings or any other evidence at the scene.

“Why we can’t find the casings, I don’t know. We didn’t find anybody whose building was shot into, anybody that was shot, thank God, you know? But we’re just trying to get a handle on it,” said Ward 11 City Councilman Danny Kelly.

Residents in neighborhoods on the near West Side were already on edge, as the result of a recent rash of carjackings and armed robberies.

Many of them were shaken by a March 24 carjacking by three gunmen outside an apartment building near Gordon Square, and they are asking the mayor and city council to reveal their plan for improving safety in the neighborhoods.

“What are we doing to start slowing this down? What are we going to try to do to stop it? What can we do as citizens to help the police stop this?” asked the concerned Edgewater resident.

Councilman Kelly says the city’s plan calls for adding more crime fighting technology and attempting to increase police manpower on the streets.

“We hear you, we understand and we’re going to work together for this, not only the mayor side of the coin and the council side of the coin, but the residents as well. We know they’re concerned and we’re, we live here too, every councilman lives in their ward, so it affects us,” he said.