TOLEDO, Ohio — Authorities in Ohio are actively pursuing a 20-year-old suspect and seeking to identify a second gunman following a mass shooting that injured 12 individuals at a busy community festival.
The Toledo Police Department announced Wednesday they are seeking Ka Nye Taylor on 11 felonious assault charges, following the violence that occurred four days earlier. The incident sent festival-goers running for safety from a park packed with vendor booths and food trucks, while witnesses and emergency responders rushed to assist the injured.
Authorities have also distributed an image of the second suspected gunman and are requesting public assistance in determining his identity. Contact information for Taylor or his relatives could not be located through available resources.
Toledo Police Chief Michael Troendle explained Tuesday that the violence stemmed from a physical confrontation involving members of competing groups. According to his Tuesday press briefing, as one individual was being attacked, another person opened fire, which prompted a second shooter to respond with additional gunfire. Of the dozen people shot, three were participants in the original dispute while nine were innocent bystanders.
City leadership and the police chief commended both officers and civilian heroes who immediately assisted victims.
“We saw strangers who were shocked and frightened by the violence they just saw, they jumped into action,” said Chief of Fire and Rescue Allison Armstrong. “They helped others by placing tourniquets, dressing wounds, applying pressure and comforting those victims until additional help could arrive.”
According to Armstrong, six of the injured arrived at medical facilities already equipped with tourniquets that had been applied by either law enforcement or helpful civilians.
Those wounded included individuals ranging from teenagers to someone in their 60s. By Tuesday, nine of the twelve had been discharged from medical care.
The Old West End Festival, which draws hundreds of attendees annually, is a two-day event in Toledo’s historic neighborhood that includes live entertainment, food stands, house tours and retail opportunities. Toledo sits in northwest Ohio close to Lake Erie’s western shore, approximately 55 miles southwest of Detroit.
Festival organizers called off the remaining Sunday activities, stating “it would not be compassionate, responsible or possible” to proceed with the weekend schedule.
