TOLEDO, Ohio — The city of Toledo saw one of its most violent weekends in months.
Seven people were shot and one person was killed in multiple shootings over the Memorial Day weekend.
Early on Memorial Day, Toledo police investigated three separate shootings. One at Door and Hoag just before 3 a.m., the second at the Greenbelt Place apartments, and the third on the 1300 block of Goodale, not far from Monroe and Auburn.
On Tuesday, one day after the holiday, around 1:30 a.m., a man was shot during a large parking lot gathering on the 3100 block of Frenchman's Road in south Toledo.
It's a level of violence Chief George Kral said he hasn't seen since December.
"It was a hot weekend. We're still under the pseudo-stay-at-home order, which is getting to people. When you couple being cooped up for a long period of time, not being able to do anything with 88 degrees and high humidity, three days before there was snow on the ground, those things happen," Kral said.
Thirteen illegal guns were also removed from the streets the same weekend.
The chief added that violent crime has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. At least 60% more people have been shot in the city this year compared to the same time frame last year. He believes the governor's order against gathering in groups may be playing a big role.
"I believe there's a correlation between being cooped up and not being able or allowed to do what you want to do. Frustration leads to violence," he said.
Police will be stepping up enforcement within the next few weeks by paying overtime to have more officers patrolling the streets and directing attention to those committing the crime.
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