Wheeling Police Chief: Report Activity Without Hesitation
Officials Want Residents To Be Vigilant in Wake of Gun Violence
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WHEELING -- The tragic, though apparently unrelated, fatal shootings of two local men have some law enforcement officials concerned about the recent uptick in gun violence in the Ohio Valley.
Police officials say they encourage residents to help be their eyes and ears, and to report suspicious activity without hesitation whenever encountered.
Brad McGarry, 43, was found dead, shot twice in the head, in his basement in Bellaire on May 7. Ahmid Salem Hinton, 41, was gunned down on a sidewalk in the area of South Penn Street on Wheeling Island early Tuesday.
There appeared to be a personal relationship between McGarry and the suspect in the Bellaire murder, according to Belmont County Prosecutor Dan Fry, but Wheeling police haven't indicated a possible motive for the Hinton shooting.
Although the reasons behind last week's killings may differ, law enforcement officials attribute the general increase in violence in the area to an upsurge in drug- and gang-related activity.
"We're certainly not Cleveland or Chicago, but we have had several gun violence incidents lately and I am done with it," said Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger.
Schwertfeger added that while he does not believe residents need to "live in fear," they should be concerned.
"The causation for the increase in the violence is likely narcotics, turf and cliques, which are unorganized groups that control territory," Schwertfeger said. "We are not seeing an increase in gangs like the Crips and the Bloods and MS-13, but we do have homegrown groups that associate with one another and control certain areas. But these gangs are not efficiently run and highly organized like gangs in the larger cities."
Asked whether he would advise residents to arm themselves for safety, Schwertfeger declined to share an opinion, but said if a resident decides to buy a gun he or she should get trained and be prepared to use the weapon.
"The police are always wanting to work with the community -- we rely on the public to let us know what is going on. A lot of times, we hear that people have seen something suspicious, but did not call us because they didn't want to be a bother. People need to understand that every call is captured and even if we don't investigate at the time, that data is very helpful to us," Schwertfeger emphasized. "Data helps us identify crime trends and hot spots. Always report suspicious activity. We rely on the public -- we need their help. There are only so many police officers, and we can't be everywhere all of the time. We definitely need and rely on the eyes and ears of our citizens."
Wheeling Police spokesman Philip Stahl said statistics show that criminal weapons charges declined from 2015 to 2016 in the city, with 11 fewer charges filed in 2016. The number of robberies and burglaries, however, increased slightly.
"We don't know from these statistics if there were weapons used in the robberies," Stahl said. "Wheeling had no homicides in 2016, and the last homicide before the recent Wheeling Island incident was in October 2015 when Lemroy Coleman was killed. There was a conviction in that case, and Dallas Acoff was found guilty of the crime."
The Coleman shooting resulted from an exchange of gunfire among three different gunmen at American Legion Post 89, located at the corner of 15th and Jacob streets in Wheeling. The incident was described by Assistant Prosecutor Shawn Turak as an "unjustified, intentional killing," and by piecing together evidence prosecutors determined that Acoff had planned the murder.
Stahl said the recent Wheeling Island shooting of Hinton is still being investigated. There is no suspect at this time, though Stahl said investigators are receiving many tips from the public.
"People are talking," Stahl noted.
Martins Ferry Police Chief John McFarland, who also serves as the head of the Belmont County Drug Task Force, agrees that support from the community is needed to help prevent crime. He also said that every community in the Ohio Valley could use additional police officers.
"When police officers are visible and out being proactive, it is a giant deterrent of crime," McFarland said.
McFarland said there have been two incidents in Martins Ferry in the last two years that involved firearms, one resulting in the death of a young man at Jaycee Manor Apartments on Nov. 18, 2015 -- which had been the last fatal shooting in Belmont County. Another resulted in a man being shot in the face during a burglary. The wounded man, Derion A. Becker, was injured when the victim pushed away a shotgun held by Stefon Ray, who was convicted in the case.
"Most of the people involved in those incidents I remembered growing up here in town. They weren't bad kids when they were young, but occasionally got into trouble," McFarland said. "The group of young men (in the Jaycee Manor fatality) made a terrible decision and it destroyed their lives and ended someone else's life. In those two shooting incidents, drugs were brought up as the reason they occurred."
Darrondres Dunn, the 19-year-old Wheeling man who fired the shot that killed Gregg Thompson, 21, at Jaycee Manor in 2015, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter with a gun specification and burglary in July. He originally was charged with aggravated murder but accepted a plea bargain. He was sentenced to 20 years behind bars.
A total of six individuals drove to the apartment complex to confront Thompson that night, reportedly about a social media post that offended one of them. Brothers Antonio Jones, 28, of Martins Ferry and Roderick Jones, 23, of Benwood, each pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Antonio Jones was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Roderick Lee Jones was given the maximum sentence of 11 years with one year for a gun specification, for a total of 12 years. Jacob Aaron Lynch, 26, of McMechen, pleaded guilty to burglary and was given a three-year sentence.
Tyler Duffy received early release from prison in March and was ordered to serve six months at the Eastern Ohio Correctional Center. Duffy drove one of the vehicles that transported the group to Martins Ferry, but he took no direct part in the crime. Duffy had been sentenced to three years in prison for his role.
The sixth defendant is a juvenile and the matter is being handled in juvenile court.
Less than two weeks before Thompson was fatally shot in Martins Ferry, Belmont County saw a double murder when Okie Barton III shot and killed his father and stepmother at their Glencoe home. Assistant Public Defender William Mooney was appointed to defend Barton, who ultimately pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated murder.
Mooney said the case was one of his "most troubling," due to its familial nature.
"He can't give anybody an explanation," Mooney said after the trial. "I don't think he knows what happened and why it happened that night."
McFarland said he encourages his officers to "get more involved with the kids" in the community and to build relationships with them. He agrees with Schwertfeger that it is very important that residents be willing to share information with the police.
"I feel building relationships with your community is one of the most important jobs in police work. Make the citizens feel comfortable in contacting police and providing us with information when they see something suspicious," McFarland said.
Belmont County Commissioner Mark Thomas said he doesn't think local residents should be "overly concerned" about the recent shootings in Bellaire and on Wheeling Island. Thomas said he believes law enforcement is doing a good job keeping the public safe.
"I think there is more gun violence now, for it seems easier to obtain guns, legally and illegally, and they are being used in drug-related crimes," Thomas said. "The Ohio Valley is still a very safe place to live, thanks to our dedicated law enforcement agencies, and people simply need to be cautious and always be aware of their surroundings."
According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, national gun violence statistics tell a much more grim story than that of the local area. Brady Campaign research cites the following gun violence statistics:
– one in three people in the U.S. knows someone who has been shot;
– on average, 31 Americans are murdered with guns each day;
– an average of 151 people are treated for a gun assault in an emergency room daily;
– each day, an average of 55 people kill themselves with a firearm; and
– an average of 46 people are shot or killed in an accident with a gun each day.
The campaign was formed by Jim and Sarah Brady after Jim, who served as press secretary for President Ronald Reagan, was shot and paralyzed during an assassination attempt on the president. The campaign states that the U.S. firearm homicide rate is 20 times higher than the combined rates of 22 countries that are our "peers in wealth and population."