They went to a house of peace Friday to mourn a young life cut short by gun violence. As they prayed, bullets interrupted the service.
The shooting outside Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church on East 126th Street terrified those in the pews and outraged public officials, who are angry over how gunfire has seeped into every part of our lives, even when we honor the dead.
Family and friends cried and hugged, as they remembered the life of Di’Mesha Wright, 23. She was with her 7-month-old child when she was shot last Thursday, Dec. 14, on Harland Avenue, between Lakeshore Boulevard and East 185th Street.
Police arrested a 21-year-old man in the woman’s shooting. It is unclear whether that incident had anything to do with what took place at the funeral.
“This is gun violence occurring on top of gun violence – a shooting outside a funeral service for a victim killed by a previous shooting just last week,” Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said in a statement. “This must stop.”
“We are deploying every single possible resource, and officers are working around the clock every day throughout the city to combat crime; however, we cannot do this alone. Those who use guns to commit crimes in our city need to ask themselves, when is enough going to be enough?”
A victim was wounded in the shooting outside the church, police said. He was taken to a hospital for his injuries. No one has been arrested in the attack at the funeral service.
The service, which began at 10 a.m., was live-streamed on the church’s Facebook page. Nearly an hour in, a gun shot is heard outside. It came as a woman spoke at the altar. People in the church appeared stunned, then screamed and ran. “This is a quiet time. This is a doggone shame. This makes no sense,” a man in the church said.
“This is a church. Everybody calm down. What is wrong with our people? I’m not talking about in here. Let’s calm down. This is a funeral. This is a home-going service. It is unbelievable that things go to this measure in the house of God.”
Congresswoman Shontel Brown, a Democrat who represents Ohio’s 11th District, is a member of the church. She attended Wright’s memorial service. Brown said the level of gun violence is devastating and demoralizing to the community.
“It’s unfathomable that while we were mourning a young woman who was shot and killed, gunfire would be heard outside her service,” Brown said in a statement. “My heart breaks for everyone who endured today’s assault while memorializing the life and violent loss of a loved one.
“People should at least be able to attend a funeral in peace. As a member of Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church, it’s painful to see what my friends and loved ones are needlessly enduring. As a member of Congress, I’m going to continue fighting for gun safety legislation, because no one, no community, deserves to live in fear.”
Michael Polensek, the chairman of Cleveland City Council’s Public Safety Committee, called the gun violence in the city “outrageous.”
“When grieving families at a funeral service have to worry about gun shots, that should tell us all about what is going on in this city with gun-related violence,” Polensek said..
