TOLEDO, Ohio — Residents living in north Toledo are sounding off after their neighborhood became the scene of this year's first homicide.
Neighbors say they're frustrated with the crime in their community.
Leaders with the Lagrange Block Watch and ONE Village Council say they need people to report what they see and that they can no longer be afraid to speak.
That's because they feel anyone not part of the solution, is part of the problem.
"[It's] disappointing. But unfortunately, I think residents have become immune to it," said Alfonso Narvaez, president of the ONE Village Council, which gives the voiceless a voice.
"How ashamed for someone to lose their life over nothing. I consider losing a life, no one that doesn't think about God in the neighborhood," Annie Walker, a north Toledo resident of 42 years, said.
Witnesses say someone pulled up next to 58-year-old Ray Gott's van and started shooting.
Toledo police found Gott dead at the intersection of Detroit and Phillips avenues late Saturday night.
It's an area TPD first targeted at the beginning of the year because of its high crime rate.
"We want to be proactive in our policing, use our data-driven policing to help us locate where crime - particularly shootings, felonious assault and homicides - are happening, so we can deploy our assets in an efficient manner," TPD Lt. Paul Davis said.
People living nearby noticed a larger police presence during their L.A.S.E.R. initiative. But they say it has since gone down.
"It's police presence. It scared them a little bit but not a bunch," Walker said. "It scared the older ones, but not the younger ones. The younger ones don't have no fear."
Narvaez says the program should just be the first step.
"More police presence. But also, more community service officers on the beat talking to the residents in the neighborhood, engaging with the residents," said Narvaez, "'cause that's what it boils down to. That is how we're gonna continue to improve our neighborhood."
He and Walker believe it's going to not only take Toledo police, but also the involvement of their community to move in the right direction.
It's a battle against the crime epidemic and poverty in the area.
"The first meeting was to let us know that we need to have a presence of leadership in the neighborhood. We need young leaders as well as the older ones out here," said Walker.
They want to keep the momentum going to keep north Toledo safe.
ONE Village Council plans to have another meeting at a future date.