Kids and Guns in Cleveland

And what really needs to be done

Photo by Eli Solitas on Unsplash

Gun incidents involving young children and teenagers have become so prevalent in Cleveland, it almost seems banal. The outrage that one would expect upon hearing that a child had been shot or had shot someone else lasts only a few moments, followed by a passivity that reflects how numb this community has become to violence.

Earlier this month, seven-year-old Demetrius Dunlap allegedly accessed a gun in his Westside home and shot himself. He was taken by private car to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A few days later, two adults were charged with involuntary manslaughter.

On a recent Sunday, a 15-year-old boy was shot in the parking lot of Mt. Sinai Baptist Church on Cleveland’s Eastside. He was treated for a gunshot wound to the hand. No information on the shooter or how the incident occurred was available.

On March 20, two teens were shot on the Westside. On March 25, one of the boys, Carlos Fernandez, died as a result of his injuries. The incident was not covered in the local media but was reported on a Facebook remembrance page.

Last year, the Cleveland Division of Police was awarded funds from The Ohio Violent Crime Reduction Grants Program. The money has been designated for certain programs, including:

• $355,400 to address homicides and felonious assaults, particularly those committed with firearms, by enhancing the work of its Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC).

• $1,747,101.01 to expand work to deter youth from gang involvement; purchase a National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN) system to aid in solving gun crimes, and expand the number of Violent Crime Reduction Teams that immediately respond to violent crimes in the city.

Addressing The Ohio Violent Crime Reduction Grants Program funding, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said in June 2022 that “my number one priority is to ensure residents feel safe in their neighborhoods. This funding boost equips the police department with the technology and resources they need to quickly respond and investigate violent crime and helps keep young people on track.”

So far, the effects from the funding have not been felt in Cleveland. According to an article in the Plain Dealer, in 2022 Cleveland had 168 gun fatalities. Of those fatalities, 19 were juveniles. Also in 2022, 35 juveniles were charged with murders tied to 27 killings. Some of the children who were charged were as young as 12. This year is shaping up to be just as bad, if not worse.

What’s happening in Cleveland reflects a trend in other U.S. cities. And this has led to a disturbing reality. Pediatric homicides are on the rise. An analysis recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that the death rate for children and adolescents rose by nearly 20 percent between 2019 and 2021. Gun-related homicides and suicides were responsible for almost half of the overall increase in child mortality.

What’s going on here? It’s a multi-pronged situation that often includes:

• Easy access to guns, especially handguns

• Lack of adequate supervision

• Child endangerment

• Fear

• Anger

• Hopelessness

• Gang influence

In Cleveland and other cities around the U.S., children have become all too aware of the fragility of life, of how a bullet could take one of their classmates, maybe even one of their siblings, away from them.

Following the death of Demetrius Dunlap, grief counselors were made available at his school. Sam Roman, the principal of Luis Munoz Marin School, said, “As we struggle to comprehend this heartbreaking loss to our school community, we are committed to helping students who will understandably be saddened or confused by the sudden death of one of their peers.”

How are children supposed to respond? When they see adults and their peers using guns to solve issues all the time, do they become immune to the violence? Do they determine by age 16 or 12 or even seven that this vicious cycle of violence will eventually sweep them up as well?

Childhood is not supposed to be like this. Some communities have long had their share of crime and violence, but at least it felt like children were for the most part spared. Now they are quite literally caught in the crossfire.

Changing this pattern is not going to happen overnight, and it’s going to take more than a few million dollars of grant money to do it. The solution involves a joint effort among parents, teachers, community members, city council, the mayor and children. Everyone has to teach these kids the value of their own lives and the lives of others. It’s going to take counseling, education, rehabilitation, an overhaul of the juvenile court system and a whole lot more.

The problem is that, for the most part, these are inner-city kids and this is viewed as an inner-city problem. But what happens in one area of the country eventually affects us all. Is this the kind of country we want to live in, where children lose their innocence in such a tragic way? We should all be angry, and we should be demanding that something be done. Are we willing to make it happen?

Here are some actions to take. Contact city mayors to express your concerns about gun violence among children. Ask what’s being done to combat the problem. Get involved in or donate to nonprofit groups that work with at-risk youth. Keep preaching about the value of life to anyone who will listen. Share this article.