Police exploring connection between homicide, recent shootings

CEDAR RAPIDS - CEDAR RAPIDS - More shootings erupted Monday and Tuesday, including at least a dozen shots fired outside an apartment, that authorities believe are in retaliation for the killing of a 15-year-old boy Sunday night.

Investigators say that Aaron K. Richardson's shooting in southeast Cedar Rapids was not random, but they have not revealed why they think he was targeted. They continued Tuesday to search for his killer.

No arrests were made on Tuesday, but Cedar Rapids Police Chief Wayne Jerman said police are pursuing a number of leads.

Hours after the shooting and about five blocks away, police Monday afternoon responded to a call of shots being fired in the 400 block of 16th Street NE. No injuries were reported.

Then Tuesday morning, police responded to the 3000 block of J Street SW for a report of shots fired. Public safety spokesman Greg Buelow said an apartment building and vehicle were hit, but no injuries were reported.

'I know the apartment was struck over a dozen times and a vehicle was struck once,” Buelow said.

A Saturday night shooting in the 1500 block of Fourth Avenue SE that left one person wounded is not being connected to the other shootings, Buelow said.

'The other two that happened (Monday) and (Tuesday) morning, police are looking at the likelihood they are related to the homicide,” Buelow said.

Jerman said police believe the Monday and Tuesday shootings were in retaliation for Aaron's death.

There have been more than 70 shootings or shots fired incidents in the city this year. Many of those have been attributed to what police have described as an ongoing dispute between two rival groups that have been retaliating against each other with acts of gun violence. It is unclear how Richardson's death fits into that dispute.

'We're not going to definitely know that until we've made some arrests,” Jerman said. 'We're not going to exclude that (previous shootings) could possibly be related to these three other cases.”

Police were called to the 300 block of 16th Street SE shortly before 10:30 p.m. Sunday after Aaron showed up at that home saying he had been shot.

A mother of one of Aaron's friends said she heard shots fired and saw Aaron fleeing from Redmond Park. The boy appeared to have been shot twice, she said.

Police said they do not know where, exactly, the shooting took place.

Although Aaron's older brother said after Sunday's killing that Arron has joined a gang, police officials have hesitated to refer to rival groups as gangs. On Tuesday, Jerman said the groups are not traditional street gangs, such as the Bloods or Crips, but could be called gangs.

'There has been an ongoing conflict between these groups, gangs, individuals, whatever you want to call them,” he said. 'If you want to label them gangs, we can go ahead and label them gangs.”

He added, 'Regardless of what they're labeled … now they've committed a murder. That's what I think is most prominent. Their actions have resulted in the death of a 15-year-old.”

Jerman said he couldn't speculate as to whether Aaron's alleged status in a gang - his Facebook page depicts him flashing what appear to be gang signs - lead to his death.

Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett echoed Jerman's comments: call the groups what you want, just help police stop them.

'I'm willing to refer to those groups of people as a gang,” Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett said Tuesday. 'Whether they're referred to as gangs or groups of people, our strategy has still been the same. Our chief has been very forthcoming with ideas to consider.”

'Whether they're called gangs or groups of people, they're shootings,” Corbett continued. 'I'm not going to get hung up on individual definitions ... If that's what the community wants to call them, fine. We're trying to solve the issue. We need people that are aware of these crimes that are taking place, people that have seen these crimes taking place, to step up and provide the evidence ... so these people can be brought to justice.”

City council member Susie Weinacht said, however, she doesn't want to label the rival groups.

'I do not believe there's a gang problem,” said City Council member Susie Weinacht. 'I believe we have two groups of youth who don't get along. These are two groups of kids. If we call them gangs, we give them a label and I'm not going to label these children.”

Weinacht said she is 'heartbroken” over Aaron's death and called for a communitywide approach to gun violence issue, which she described as 'systemic” and 'deep rooted.”

'We need parents to come out and start talking and coming together and working together on his,” she said. 'They need to be their children's biggest champion ... There is obviously more to be done.”

Corbett said the gun violence is an example of a situation the police department can't handle on it's own. He said he plans to reach out to citizens, particularly leaders in the black community, for help.

'It's a societal problem,” Corbett said. 'It's not one that law enforcement alone is going to solve ... We just need more ideas and more people involved going forward.”

Jerman said he has reallocated department resources to increase police presence on the streets. Some officers are working overtime to address the ongoing violence. He said the department is also using other 'non-traditional methods” that he declined to identify.

He also called on the community for help.

'We continue to plead for additional information that we can put forth into these cases to bring about resolution,” he said. 'We really appreciate community input in helping us solve this tragedy. We will solve it.”

Wellington Heights neighborhood Association President Justin Wasson said gun violence in the city is 'so overwhelming ... so damaging,” but he notes that overall crime in the Wellington Heights neighborhood has continued to decrease over the past several years.

Furthermore, he said residents in the neighborhood have taken on issues in the neighborhood themselves. Each Friday morning, the Wellington House hosts a neighborhood watch meeting. While problem houses and other issues are forwarded on to police, Wasson said the meetings are predominantly an opportunity for neighbors to discuss resources available to residents.

'I think it's less focused on reducing crime and more focused on providing services; which, in my mind, is more valuable,” Wasson said.

The neighborhood has also put on Know Your Neighbor Events that encourage residents to meet and get to know one another. Wasson also said a few neighbors have started their own, monthly events that are kid-focused and feature food, dance contest and jump houses.

'I think they've been really positive,” he said. 'It was in direct response to a lot of the violence that's been happening.”

Added Wasson, 'There are so many positive things that are happening. Unfortunately, this gun violence overshadows that. I really do believe it's just a few people (that are responsible for the gun violence).”