Following Violent Week in Cleveland, Neighbors Help Police Pursue Shooting Suspects

An arrest warrant has been issued for a suspect in the Sept. 15 shooting death of 3-year-old Major Howard on the city's eastside. With the help of neighbors willing to pass along pertinent information, police identified Donnell "Nell" Lindsey, 22, as the man suspected of firing the bullets that killed Howard and injured a 24-year-old woman.

Deputy Chief Ed Tomba joined Police Chief Calvin Williams and Mayor Frank Jackson today in updating the press on that case and four others that have marked this violent month in Cleveland. None were able to explain the sharp uptick in shootings, however.

"We ask that question amongst each other every day," Tomba said, adding that the increase is not unique to Cleveland. (Cincinnati, for instance, has seen statistical jumps in violence this year.)

- Andre Carr, 21, was found dead on Sunday underneath a Jeep on East 116th Street. Police are continuing to investigate. 

- Jerry Rembert, 52, and Morgan Nietzel, 26, were found dead in a home on East 140th Street on Saturday. They had both been shot in the head. Tomba said the case is like "some type of family issue." An arrest warrant was issued in a separate homicide case for a Robert Rembert Jr., who is expected to be questioned in this case, as well. 

- Dante Padgett Sr., 30, and Dante Padgett Jr., 10, were shot on Saturday at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Shaker Boulevard. The elder man died; his son remains at Rainbows Babies and Children's Hospital. Police are continuing to investigate.

- Two people have been arrested in the death of Ramon Burnett, the 5-year-old killed earlier in the month. Marlon Hackett, Jr., 19, and Dontavious Williams, 18, were charged with aggravated murder. They are both being held on $1-million bond. Tomba said he expects additional arrests to be made shortly.

When asked about the ongoing question of resource allotment, Jackson told reporters that the police department deploys whatever tools it has at its disposal when needed. He said that it's often community members — neighbors who speak up when, for instance, a young boy is shot on an otherwise quiet Tuesday evening — who help nudge investigators toward the culprits.

"The people who engage in the street life and commit crimes do not have the right to take innocence," Jackson said.