POSSESSION AND DISCHARGING A WEAPON AT AN OFFICER. AND IT MAY FEEL LIKE VIOLENCE IN THE CITY IS ONLY GETTING WORSE. BUT THERE ARE SOME POSITIVE SIGNS TONIGHT. WE CHECKED THE NUMBERS TO SEE WHERE WE STAND WITH ALL OF THIS WLWT INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER JATARA MCGEE JOINS US IN THE STUDIO TO BREAK SOME OF THESE NUMBERS DOWN. JETER YEAH, A LITTLE BIT OF GOOD NEWS HERE. A LOT OF PERSPECTIVE TO KEEP IN MIND AS WELL. CINCINNATI POLICE TELL ME SO FAR THIS YEAR, 146 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SHOT IN CINCINNATI. NOW, THAT IS ACTUALLY FEWER THAN LAST YEAR, THE YEAR BEFORE. AND A 10% REDUCTION FROM THE YEAR BEFORE THAT. BUT WITH SUMMER JUST GETTING STARTED, POLICE AND CITY LEADERS ADMIT THEY’RE CONCERNED. THE IMAGES AND HEADLINES FROM THE LAST WEEK PAINT A VIOLENT PICTURE CONCERNING FOR CITY LEADERS WITH SCHOOL OUT AND THE WEATHER WARMING UP. OUR KIDS ARE GETTING SHOT IN OUR STREETS. AS SOON AS YOU START PULLING A TRIGGER AND AS SOON AS YOU START HITTING KIDS, I REALLY DON’T CARE WHY YOU’RE DOING IT. THE MAYOR RESPONDING TO LAST WEEK’S DRIVE BY SHOOTING IN OCR THAT LEFT THREE KIDS SHOT. THE YOUNGEST VICTIM OVER THE WEEKEND, JUST SEVEN YEARS OLD. HER GRANDMA SAYS SHE FOUND HER BLEEDING FROM HER RIGHT SIDE EYE. HER SEVERAL GUNSHOTS, MAYBE 30. THE BIG PICTURE FOR 2023 IS BETTER THAN LAST YEAR WITH SHOOTINGS AND HOMICIDES, BOTH DOWN. AS OF TODAY, CINCINNATI POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING 27 HOMICIDES THIS YEAR AT THIS POINT IN 2022 AND 2021. THERE WERE 32 UNDER INVESTIGATION. THE MAJORITY OF MURDERS IN THE CITY ARE BEING SOLVED. 72% OF HOMICIDES SOLVED IN 2022, 74% IN 2021, AND 70% IN 2020. ONE OF THE MOST VIOLENT YEARS ON RECORD. CINCINNATI’S HOMICIDE UNIT HAS SOLVED 67% OF ITS CASES IN 2023, WITH SEVEN MONTHS TO GO. THE CITY’S CLOSURE RATE CONSISTENTLY ABOVE THE NATIONAL AVERAGE, TRACKED BY THE FBI. BUT THE POSITIVE SIGNS IN THE STATISTICS MEAN LITTLE IN THE HARDEST HIT NEIGHBORHOODS. OUR KIDS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO FEEL LIKE THEY’RE LIVING IN A WAR ZONE. AND I THINK THAT PEOPLE ARE SO DESENSITIZED TO IT THAT WE DON’T PAY ATTENTION TO IT. POLICE AND COMMUNITY LEADERS LIKE TIERRA POWELL, ARKIN THIRD, EVEN AS VIOLENT INCIDENTS TREND DOWN, VIOLENCE AMONG KIDS IS GOING UP. WE KIND OF NERVOUS BECAUSE WE KNOW PEOPLE GETTING SHOT AND THEY’RE NOT THE TARGET, SO WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL AND ON THE LOOKOUT WHEN WE’RE WALKING BACK AND FORTH TO THE STORE AND THAT DIRECTLY FROM NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS IN THE WESTWOOD AREA. YOU KNOW, WE’VE TALKED ABOUT THE INCREASE IN YOUTH VIOLENCE OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS NOW. JUST THIS WEEKEND, WE MENTIONED A 14 YEAR OLD. NOW IN CUSTODY ACCUSED OF SHOOTING A