Crime & Safety
One Man Dead, One Wounded in Waterbury Shooting
Several suspects are in custody and it is not clear if another suspect is on the loose.
Updated: 12:25 a.m.
Many questions remain following a shooting that left one man dead and one wounded on Waterbury Avenue on Friday night.
What's known is that a party was taking place at the second-floor residence when the gunfire rang out after 9 p.m., said Mayor Michael Summers.
Find out what's happening in Lakewoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Neighbors reported hearing at least three shots.
The first victim was shot and killed inside of 2051 Waterbury Ave., while the second man was shot in the leg in the driveway of the duplex, just south of Madison Avenue.
Find out what's happening in Lakewoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
He was taken to Fairview General Hospital in Cleveland, and his condition is unknown, Chief Tim Malley said.
Police have "several" suspects in custody, but it’s not yet clear if other suspects are still at large, said Summers, adding that there are a number of eyewitnesses.
"Why this happened is yet to be determined," he said. "This is not a random event, it's one of those situations that just went out of control in an unknown and violent way."
Police have not yet released any additional details about the shooting.
“We really don’t know much at this time,” Malley said.
As of around 10 p.m. on Friday night, a Rocky River police officer posted at the described one suspect on the loose as a 220-pound black man with tattoos on his face and neck, wearing a gray sweatshirt with a stick figure design on it.
A crowd of dozens of curious onlookers lined the street watching as police collected evidence at two houses in the 2000 block of Waterbury Avenue.
"Neighbors have been concerned about the activity at that house," Summers said.
Several police investigators combed the neighborhood collecting evidence, well past midnight.
"This is a very unusual event for Lakewood — we haven't had an event like this in many years," Summers said. "We're very regretful that it happened tonight. This is a discouraging thing to happen in any neighborhood."
Check back to Lakewood Patch for updates.