A 12-year-old boy was killed and a 6-year-old boy was injured when a funeral procession crashed in Akron, Ohio, police said.
Screenshot of WEWS
A 12-year-old boy was killed and a 6-year-old was injured when a funeral procession crashed and opened fire, police in Ohio say.
Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan said yes “devastated” after learning of the incidentwhich took place on Thursday, October 6, at S. Arlington St. in Akron.
A 12-year-old boy was involved in the accident died at Akron Children’s Hospital, WOIO reports. Horrigan said the 6-year-old is in critical condition.
“There are no words that can adequately express the depth of this loss,” Horrigan said in a statement. “My heart breaks for the families and friends of these two young children.”
The police said that the procession was for the funeral of a A 17-year-old boy who recently died of a drug overdose, WJW reports.
The mother of one of the boys was driving a Chrysler 200, which collided with a Chevy Impala, WKYC reports. One of the children was ejected from the Chrysler, police said, and the other was partially ejected.
Witnesses said that people “hung from the window” of the vehicle before the crash, WJW reported, citing police.
Police reported the driver of the Impala ran away on foot and was not detained, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.
“We believe one of the vehicles may have been acting recklessly,” Akron Police Lt. Michael Miller told WKYC. “It is possible that one of the vehicles was trying to turn when the collision occurred and the children were injured as a result.”
Police said “as a direct result of the fatal crash” the dispute led to the shooting, according to WOIO. A 19-year-old man showed up at an Akron hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after being shot, police said.
A second shooting occurred two blocks away, but no one was injured, officials said.
“Everybody was yelling ‘get down’ and yelling,” nearby resident Andy Benson told the Beacon Journal. “It was crazy.”
Miller called the incident “chaos,” WKYC reported.
“They were traveling to commemorate and bury someone they love… This young man’s family and in this incident another young man lost his life and it couldn’t have been worse, more tragic not only for this family , but also for this community. good,” Miller told WJW.
