Covington police updated the community about a shooting that injured four people Monday night at a press conference Tuesday morning.
Chief Rob Nader said the juveniles who were shot are 7, 11 and 14. The 14-year-old, a female, is in critical condition. The 7- and 11-year-olds are in stable condition, along with an adult male.
“There is no logical reason three young children are suffering from gunshot wounds,” Nader said. “They should be looking forward to playing outside as the weather warms up and looking forward to spring break next week.”
The shooting occurred while more than a dozen juveniles were caught up in a fight, Nader said. He also said a 41-year-old male was involved in the fight.
“It’s a heinous act, and we will keep working to get the bad actors appropriately charged,” Nader said.
There may have been two shooters, Nader said, and police don’t yet have anyone in custody. They are combing through video footage of the fight to find more information that might help identify the shooter or shooters.
Nader said the video the police have is blurry because when the shooting broke out, people scattered, but that CPD is using all technology at their disposal to enhance its quality.
When asked if the shooters were juveniles, Nader said, “We’re not sure at this time. That’s why we’re combing through the videos. That’s why we’re being careful about releasing it. As we get more information, we’ll release it to the media.”
But commissioner Ron Washington reassured the community that they are safe.
“Covington is a safe place,” Washington said. “We on the board of commissioners fully support the police department.” “I think one of the most important things is to let our kids, let our community know Covington is a safe place,” Washington said. “We on the Board of Commissioners fully support the police department. We know that the police department will get to the bottom of this. But for people that come to work, play and live in our city, it’s a safe place. However, sometimes we have problems and that’s why we have a very professional police force that’s going to get to the bottom of this and we look forward to justice being done.”
Crews were called at about 6:45 p.m. Monday to the 200 block of W. 17th for a shooting. They located the gunshot victims on Russell Street, police said.
WCPO’s Courtney Francisco spoke Monday to Jaren Zech, who rushed to the scene after learning a shooting happened outside his home.
“It makes me sick to my stomach, to be honest with you, because I have a kid of my own,” Zech said. “I could have been (walking outside)…and that’s why I was concerned. My mom and I live there, and little sister.”
Another neighbor, George Smith, said he’s been worried something like this would happen for months after hearing of fights. He said he recently reported to police that a child pulled a gun on him and ran off.
“He was younger — younger than a teenager, honestly,” Smith said. “He looked like a 12-, 11-year-old kid.”
Smith said he hopes this will somehow lead to change.
“I just really hope something gets done over this because there really is, there’s a lot of kids in this neighborhood,” said Smith.