Saturday evening was supposed to be the highlight of Toledo’s summer. The Old West End Festival, now in its 53rd year, had drawn several hundred people to one of the most beautiful historic neighborhoods in the Midwest. Families were browsing food vendors. Friends were grabbing drinks at the beer garden. A live band was playing in the arboretum. Then, just after 5:30 p.m., gunfire shattered all of it.
At least 12 people were shot when two gunmen opened fire near the festival grounds in Toledo, Ohio. Two victims were left in critical condition. The youngest person hit was just 14 years old. The oldest was 61. Most of the victims were in their early 20s. As of Saturday night, no suspects had been arrested, and an active manhunt was underway across the city.
What Happened Near the Arboretum
The shooting took place at the Agnes Reynolds Jackson Arboretum, which serves as the community festival grounds, near the intersection of Delaware and Glenwood Avenues. Toledo Police Deputy Chief Joe Heffernan told reporters that at least two shooters appeared to be involved and that they were “probably shooting at each other.” The victims, in other words, were bystanders caught in a crossfire that had nothing to do with them.
Heffernan said police responded quickly. There was already a large contingent of officers assigned to security for the festival, including a group of off-duty officers working the event. Mobile Toledo police cameras were also feeding into the city’s real-time crime center. Even with all of that in place, two people managed to pull guns and open fire into a crowd of hundreds.
“This is a perfect example of when bullets start flying, they can go anywhere,” Heffernan said. “They can strike anybody.”
Chaos in the Streets
Video reviewed by multiple news outlets showed rapid bursts of gunfire sending festivalgoers screaming and running for cover between golf carts and food trucks. The neighborhood’s historic streets, usually lined with tourists admiring Victorian architecture, became a crime scene in seconds. Abandoned sneakers, plastic cups, and toppled coolers littered the pavement, left behind by people who had come out to share a drink and listen to music before they were forced to run for their lives.
Eyewitness Kevin Berry was sitting in the arboretum listening to live music with friends when he heard a handful of gunshots ring out. When he looked up, he saw a gun being tossed to the ground less than 50 feet from where he was sitting. Berry, who has medical training and served in the Navy, immediately got up and started walking the area looking for people who needed help. He found at least five people with gunshot wounds spread out around the arboretum.
“The folks who were hit were spread out around the arboretum area,” Berry said, describing how the gunfire scattered victims across a wide zone.
Police Plead for Public Help
At a late Saturday night news conference, police officials made it clear they are depending on the public to help solve this case. During the briefing, investigators did not answer questions about whether they have specific persons of interest. Police Lt. Dan Gerken said authorities are “at the mercy of the evidence in the video” that they are collecting.
George Kral, the city’s director of public safety, held up a cellphone and made a direct appeal to anyone who was at the festival. “There were several hundred people there tonight and everyone has one of these,” he said. “I know in my heart that footage is out there. So I am imploring my fellow Toledoans to look through your cellphone video and reach out to the Toledo Police Department and help them catch the people who did this.”
Multiple videos posted to social media showed people running over the sound of gunshots and emergency officials tending to victims who appeared wounded. Police are asking people to avoid the area as they continue to process the large crime scene.
A Beloved Tradition, Canceled
The Old West End Festival is a two-day event, and Sunday’s portion was supposed to include home tours, an art fair, yard sales, and the 117th King Wamba Carnival Parade, a tradition that predates the festival itself by decades. All of it was canceled.
The Old West End Association released a statement Saturday night explaining the decision. “After discussion with festival organizers, law enforcement and the City of Toledo, we feel that it would not be compassionate, responsible or possible to continue the festival,” the organization said. The statement also noted the community was “heartbroken” and asked a question that many in Toledo were already grappling with: “People want to know how we proceed from such a dark place.”
The festival has been a neighborhood tradition for over 50 years and is considered by locals to be the unofficial kick-off to Toledo’s summer festival season. It draws people from all over northwest Ohio to a neighborhood known for its massive, ornate Victorian homes, many of which were built between 1875 and 1915.
A Historic Neighborhood in the Spotlight
The Old West End is one of Toledo’s most recognizable neighborhoods. It covers 25 city blocks and contains one of the largest collections of late Victorian houses still standing in the United States. The homes include examples of Colonial, Georgian, Italian Renaissance, Queen Anne, Dutch Colonial, French Second Empire, and Arts and Crafts architecture. Many of them range from 1,200 to 10,000 square feet.
Parts of the neighborhood were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and the designation was expanded in 1984. The area is also home to the Toledo Museum of Art’s Glass Pavilion. It has a population of about 7,200 residents. For most of the year, the neighborhood is known for its architecture, its walkability, and the sense of pride its residents take in maintaining these old homes. Saturday changed the conversation entirely.
Officials React
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said he was “deeply concerned” about the shooting. “Summer festivals should be safe spaces for families to spend time together without fear of violence,” he wrote on the social media platform X. DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine said they are praying for everyone impacted and expressed confidence that law enforcement would locate the suspects.
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz issued a statement praising the city’s first responders while also acknowledging the gravity of the moment. “Toledo has faced more adversity over the years than most cities, and our citizens always rally together and pull through,” the mayor said. “Toledo is resilient and will emerge stronger because of the unity we show in this moment, and because of the brave men and women of the Toledo Police Department and Toledo Fire and Rescue Department, whose swift actions today saved lives.”
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur called the shooting “senseless gun violence” and expressed gratitude to first responders. “Praying now for victims and our Old West End community,” Kaptur said. She added that she plans to coordinate with local, state, and federal officials to help the community “get the answers it desperately needs.”
A City Councilman Sets the Tone
Toledo City Councilman John Hobbs III was among the local officials who spoke publicly Saturday night. He said he was “extremely proud” of the response by police, fire, and rescue. But he also wanted to make something clear about what the shooting does and does not say about Toledo.
“What happened today is not a reflection of what our city is and what we stand for,” Hobbs said. “We are hoping that as a community we will come together and get this solved quickly. There has to be a tone set early on with summer just starting that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.”
Hobbs also echoed the plea from police leadership, urging anyone who might have seen something or recorded video to step forward. “We need everyone who thought they saw something, that may have been recording, to help the victims of the situation,” he said. “Help our detectives get this taken care of.”
Where Things Stand
As of late Saturday night, no arrests had been made. Police said the investigation is still in its early stages. Lt. Gerken acknowledged there is a lot of evidence to sift through, including security camera footage from the city’s own mobile units and whatever civilian video comes in from the public.
Police Deputy Chief Heffernan was blunt about how he sees it. “We’ll dissect what happened and who was responsible and certainly the motives are going to be one of them,” he said. “Why would somebody do something like this? It’s horrible.”
Lt. Gerken put it even more simply: “It’s just a shame when a few people, for whatever reasons going through their head, decide to disrupt something that has been a beloved community event for many, many, many years.”
Twelve people went to a summer festival on a Saturday afternoon. They were listening to music, eating food, walking through a neighborhood full of 150-year-old houses. Now they are in hospitals across the Toledo region, and the people who shot them are somewhere out there. The second day of the 53rd annual Old West End Festival will not happen. Toledo’s summer season has started in the worst possible way.