Cleveland Police Chief Breaks Down in Tears After Shooting Death of 6-Month-Old Girl
[There was a video here]
Yesterday on Cleveland’s East Side, a six-month-old girl riding in a car with her mother was killed after being shot in the chest during an apparent drive-by shooting. Following a failed SWAT raid on a nearby building, Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams broke down in tears while speaking to reporters about the girl’s death.
“Another innocent child in our city has been taken from us, basically by thugs in the street who want to carry out this vendetta against each other,” he said, according to Cleveland’s Fox 8. “Our innocent babies get caught in the crossfire.”
The girl—identified as Aavielle Wakefield—died just weeks after the shooting deaths of three-year-old Major Howard and five-year-old Ramon Burnett, who was killed by a stray bullet while playing football in his east Cleveland neighborhood.
“It’s enough. Enough is enough,” Williams said yesterday. “When are we going to stop counting babies killed out there.”
“We’re going to stay on this as long as it takes,” he added. “We want bodies in jail for the crime.”
While speaking about the child’s family, William became visibly emotional. “For the family, it’s tough,” he said, pausing to look away from the camera. “It’s tough. This should not be happening in our city. We’ve got to do something about it.”