At least two of the weapons recovered from the scene of the June 2 shooting in East Akron that left one dead and injured 28 others have been linked to another crime in another city, Akron Police Chief Brian Harding said Tuesday.
Harding declined to share specifics about the investigation during a late morning news conference, but he said the department has dedicated more than 2,500 hours to the case, conducted over 100 interviews and collected "dozens of pieces of physical evidence for processing."
"We've been working with a number of our federal partners, including the ATF, the FBI, as well as the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Marshals and the Summit County Sherriff's Department to coordinate the activities around this case," Harding said.
Additionally, he said, the department has eyewitness accounts that confirm the description of the vehicle the shooter was driving and the behavior of the vehicle leading up to the shooting.
"They describe that vehicle pulling up slowly, the window going down, the male that was in the driver's seat starts shooting," said Harding. As the vehicle sped off, he said, people began returning fire.
He expressed confidence that the department would be able to find the shooter.
“My thoughts remain with all those who were impacted by this incident,” Harding said, “and we are working hard to find those responsible and help ensure that incidents like these are less likely to occur moving forward.”
Harding addressed rumors that the shooter is known to the police but hasn’t been arrested because there’s not enough evidence to bring charges.
“If we knew who it was,” he said, “we’d be announcing an arrest.”
Why is Akron mass shooting so hard to solve?
It’s been seven weeks since the June 2 shooting at an outdoor party at Kelly and 8 th avenues.
Harding said that the lead the department most needs — the identity of the drive-by shooter — hasn’t materialized.
Complicating things further is the amount of leads and information that the department has to investigate.
“The number of people shot, the number of people that were there, also make this a challenge to determine what occurred,” Harding said.
What’s happening with the Gun Violence Response Fund?
Tracy Carter, system director for government affairs and health policy at Summa Health, is a co-chair of the advisory committee of community members assisting Victim Assistance Program in determining the newly created Gun Violence Response Fund's priorities .
She said that fund has received $264,455 in pledges.
“Victim Assistance has distributed $46,298 to those victims and their families as they continue to deal with the impact of that night," Carter said.
Donations of any size are still welcome, she said. Any person, foundation or business wishing to donate can visit https://tinyurl.com/GunViolenceFund .
Victims seeking support can call Victim Assistance at 330-376-0040 to learn more.
The committee co-chairs have spoken to state leaders about the Crime Victims Compensation Fund , Carter said. The conversation gave them a better understanding of how Akron’s fund can best be used to benefit the victims of the June 2 shooting.
“I also want the community to know that to support our thought process, our planning process, that we have compared notes with other cities who have been effected by mass shootings,” Carter said. “So we’ve had an opportunity to talk with Cleveland and Orlando to get their feedback on how they responded to mass shooting incidents.”
Is there any indication that any of the weapons used in the shooting are illegal?
Akron Mayor Shammas Malik said the firearms recovered from the scene of the shooting have undergone rigorous testing.
“As a result of our partnership with ATF and BCI, every piece of evidence, every shell casing that we have has been tested to be traced," Malik said. “Every gun has been swabbed for DNA evidence. We’re not releasing all the results of that today — that’s part of an active investigation — but we remain very closely focused on how data that we pull from evidence in the field can be used with our partners to try to link cases together, to provide further leads.”
Harding said the department is trying to keep illegal guns off the streets by:
“We make that our No. 1 priority,” Harding said. “We talk about enforcement activities around gun violence specifically, so those are just a couple steps we’re taking.”
Proactive measures are in play, too, Harding said, specifically, “going out and trying to get guns out of people’s hands before they become involved in a crime and then making people aware of the impact of gun violence. Those are just a few steps.”
Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com or 330-541-9413
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guns used in Akron mass shooting June 2 linked to other crimes, police chief says
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