A violent breakout such as the early Sunday morning shootings at the Cameo nightclub in Cincinnati would have resulted in further rounds of retribution in past years here.
But at least one leader within the city’s African-American community hopes this time might be different, even though the shootings might have been sparked by an ongoing conflict.
“This is just crazy. The community is in an uproar,” said the Rev. Peterson Mingo of Evanston’s Christ Temple Church. “We’ll be out there talking and listening to folks. But no one wants this kind of thing to happen — we all want to feel safe.”
He’s optimistic that could make a difference this time.
“There are a lot of people distancing themselves from this and don’t want to be tied to it, so they are letting people know who was associated with it,” Mingo said. “People have been giving us names and we’re sending them to the police, and they say they’re cooperating.”
Mingo said that he and other leaders of the African-American community will be working over the next few days to ease tensions to prevent further retaliation.
He also said there were several rumors flying around as to how the shootings started, but none could be substantiated.
Cincinnati Police officials said Sunday there were multiple shooters. The violence broke out as part of a dispute inside the nightclub that might have started earlier in the day, or even earlier than that.
“I’m not going to spread those around,” Mingo said, “but it’s unfortunate this would all start as a fight on a dance floor.”
All told, 16 people were shot, one fatally. Two were in critical condition Sunday evening.
The city experienced such a spiral of violence two years ago, when there were a near-record number of shootings. Mingo and others said one shooting would beget another one. Revenge and retaliation were the norm.
Source: USA Today | James Pilcher
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