Police in Toledo, Ohio say that 12 people were injured, two of them critically, in a mass shooting near a community street festival on Saturday. The shooting unfolded close to a busy local gathering, and authorities moved quickly to respond as reports of gunfire reached them, turning what had been a day of community celebration into the scene of an active police operation.
The scale of the attack stunned even experienced officers in the city, with one describing the level of violence as over the top compared with other scenes he had worked. The victims were taken to hospital, and the toll cut across generations, as minors were among those shot and the wounded ranged in age from 14 to 61.
According to the account given by the Toledo Police Department, officers were initially sent to the area after a report of a person shot near the Old West End Festival. When they arrived at the scene, however, they found that the situation was more serious than a single victim, discovering multiple people who had been shot in the vicinity of the event.
In the aftermath, emergency responders worked to get the wounded help as quickly as possible. Many of the victims were transported to nearby medical facilities for treatment, as those at the scene dealt with the immediate consequences of the shooting and the disruption it brought to the festival and the surrounding neighborhood.
As of the police account, the person or people responsible had not been caught. The Toledo Police Department said it was actively searching for the suspect or suspects involved in the shooting, indicating that the investigation was still in its early and urgent stage as officers worked to locate whoever had opened fire.
Authorities have so far offered little explanation for what led to the violence. Police did not provide any information on a possible motive, leaving open the central question of why the shooting happened as investigators continued to gather information and pursue those responsible in the hours that followed.
The shooting struck at an event that normally draws large crowds. The annual Old West End Festival is a two-day gathering that is usually attended by somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 people, a scale that underscores how many residents tend to come together for the celebration each year in the Toledo neighborhood that gives the festival its name.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine addressed the shooting in a message on social media, saying he was deeply concerned about the situation in Toledo. He added that summer festivals should be safe spaces for families to spend time together without fear of violence, as the city was left to absorb an attack on an event that organizers had tried to keep secure.