14 DAY TRIAL // A child has been shot during a Juneteenth festival in Columbus over the weekend, police reports say.
According to NBC 4, shots were fired on Saturday evening at the Juneteenth Festival at Franklin Park in east Columbus.
An 11-year-old boy was injured and he was transported to Nationwide Children's Hospital. He has incurred a gunshot wound to his thigh, and the injury is not critical.
"I actually saw a young boy fall to his knees," describes Rich Reed, a worker at a booth in the park who witnessed the incident.
Up to this point, there is no indication about how many bullets have been fired or what the motivation for the shooting has been.
"I had to take my 75-year-old mother and move her to the side so she wouldn't get hurt," adds Lawana Motley, of Columbus.
Juneteenth is held every year on June 19 to celebrate African-American Independence Day, the abolition of slavery in the United States, which took place in 1865.
"To know why we're coming together and we mess it us up that's so awful, it's sickening," comments local Crystal Coleman.
Police have arrested 15-year-old Lovauntea J. Mickens in the Juneteenth shooting, the Columbus Dispatch reports.
Mickens, of 723 S. Napoleon Ave. accidentally injured the 11-year-old boy by firing into the air during the festival.
The incident prompted authorities to close down the festival, which was set to continue on Sunday. Other reports show that four teenagers were arrested for getting into brawls at the Juneteenth.
"Every year they get out here and show out. Now we're not going to have anything we can do that represents the African-American community and it's a disgrace," resident Benita David notes.
"It just has to stop. I don't know what it's going to take but it just has to stop," says Carol Jefferson, a seller in Franklin Park whose son has died in a shooting.