(Toledo, OH) Toledo's mayor is thankful tensions eased over the weekend after the police department's second fatal officer-involved shooting in a week. But Mayor Wade Kapsukiewicz says community conversations need to continue to keep those tensions from escalating again.
Mayor Kapsukiewicz says the facts of the situation eventually overcame social media-fueled rumors that led an angry crowd to gather and nearly confront police at the scene. Those rumors involved an unarmed teen trying to surrender. Police, in fact, shot a 25-year old robbery suspect who had a gun and was fleeing from authorities.
But a gathering of African-American leaders and immediate release of a dash-cam video of the incident are credited with easing tensions. The mayor says it would be foolish to ignore the anger and frustration expressed during the gathering Friday night, which he called more related to the national atmosphere of race relations and recent police incidents.
The mayor is encouraging future conversations to further ease tensions and prevent a re-escalation of those emotions, which he said could result in an even worse incident.