SHOTS FIRED: Data shows where, when shootings are most common in Toledo
For the first of our three-day series, 11 Investigates went through more than 1,500 calls to the Toledo Police Department for shots fired. Here's what we uncovered.
It’s news that’s not easy to share when another homicide grips a Toledo neighborhood.
So far in 2021, we’ve reached 60 homicides, as of Tuesday, Nov. 16.
Our 11 Investigates team has been poring over the statistics of these homicides - specifically shots-fired calls - to find any patterns to help our community stay better protected.
Over three days, our Shots Fired series will bring you a look at the data from Toledo police that pinpoints when and where violence happens the most, examine what tools are being used to track down violent perpetrators and show you the human side of who this gun violence ultimately affects.
For today's installment, 11 Investigates documented every shots-fired call from January through August this year to find out when and where these calls originated, and where they’re coming from most often. Toledo police responded to more than 1,500 shots fired calls in that timeframe.
The Violent Times 1 in 3 calls between 12-4 a.m.
Just after midnight on July 18, gunfire rang out in downtown Toledo. It would be one of the last sounds Stormy Clere heard before his death, along with his girlfriend’s tearful 911 call.
It was Toledo's 33rd homicide of the year.
The screams from the victim and those around are sounds all too familiar to Toledo police and families living in some parts of the city.
Police heard these calls 1,516 times in the first eight months of the year.
We uncovered that 512 of those calls - about one in three - occurred between the hours of midnight and 4 a.m.
Our dive into the data found a majority of shots-fired calls were reported on Saturdays and Sundays. Just over 20 percent - 310 calls -showed up on Saturdays.
Another 288 came on Sundays, which means nearly 40 percent of all shots fired calls in Toledo happen on weekends.
Now that we know when, the next question is where.
Finding the Hot Spots Heat map shows multiple calls
We entered the addresses where all the shots fired calls originated into a program that generates a heat map with larger areas of red representing the largest concentration of calls. Several neighborhoods stick out as hot spots.
One neighborhood, right by the Mott Branch Library, has three roads that are near the top of the list for shots fired calls:
- Fernwood Avenue with 13
- Pinewood Avenue with 14
- Norwood Avenue with 15.
Streicher Street, which is bisected by Lagrange Street on the west side near Central Avenue, is at 22 calls.
Walnut Street, near Greenbelt Place Apartments in central Toledo, is at 16.
Multiple larger roads like LaGrange and Elm Street had higher numbers, but we eliminated them because they are larger, busier roads.
This data shows Saturdays and Sundays are the days that keep police busiest responding to shots fired calls and the most common time they come in is the earliest hours of the morning.
We’ve also learned there are some neighborhoods officers return to repeatedly.
And families of those hit by the bullets suffer the silence of their missing loved ones.
COMING NEXT: What tools are being used to track down perpetrators of violence - and what more can be done. Plus, on Thursday, hear from the families and neighbors of those affected by violence in the city of Toledo.