A 15-year-old Shaker Heights High School student is accused of shooting and killing an 18-year-old peer in front of the city’s main library branch on Van Aken Boulevard on April 1.
The shooting was highly disturbing for local parents, including Nogira Fitch. The day of the shooting, her son called her to pick him up early, but she had a schedule conflict.
“And then an hour later, I hear about this,” Fitch recalled in the library's parking lot several weeks after the shooting. “So, immediately, fear just came into me because what if something would have happened and I told him I couldn't even pick him up that day? It really bothered me, and I had to really cope and deal with it.”
Many students are still struggling mentally after the shooting, Fitch said, adding, "They're triggered if they hear a loud noise. My son, he had nightmares.”
Colleen Jackson, chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer for Shaker Heights, said the city is reeling after the recent act of violence.
“I think the humanity piece kicks in first, and people are sad for the families that have lost,” Jackson said. “Both families lose in a situation like that. One loses life and one loses liberty, so there is an overwhelming sense of loss.”
After-school programming and activities
The shooting happened after school, when the library is a hive of activities for youth. For example, the library hosts an eSports club on Wednesdays, where pizza and video games are set up in a room open to all.
Kids begin trickling into the library after school, following the warm scent of Domino’s pizza and the sounds of slow, calming lo-fi beats. After a while, the room starts to fill with laughter and conversation. There is even a small group of teenagers recording TikTok dances in a corner.
Other programs focus on arts and crafts, roundtable discussions, and, obviously, summer reading lists. The library increased its programming after a flood of students started visiting after school. There are even after-school youth associates who serve as mentors.
Dominic Jones, a youth service associate at Shaker Library, works daily with teens and youth. He said when he first started, the library didn’t have programming for youth. Now, he said the programs have been productive for the kids’ development.
“A lot of the programs that I run are for them to be social,” Jones said. “It’s for them to explore themselves and their hobbies and their interests, and to really make a new community here at the library.”
The programming also helps the kids open up more, Jones said. Students and teens, who affectionately call him ‘Dom,’ see him as a mentor and a friend.
Raylon Dean, a senior at Shaker Heights High School, said he’s seen how his relationship with Jones has affected other aspects of his life.
“If I have a bad day, he'll counsel me about it,” Dean said. “I really appreciate him and everybody else in the library. They’ve helped me a lot.”
Community concern and racial tension
There’s a real connection between the library staff and young people. However, the aftermath of the shooting at Shaker Library unveiled divisions between Shaker Heights residents. Some community members pointed their frustrations at the students. Both the accused shooter and the victim were Black, and there were racially charged comments on social media toward Black teenagers who use the library.
Those comments go against Shaker Heights' reputation for being diverse and accepting, known as one of the most racially diverse cities in the county. It was one of the first suburbs to integrate its neighborhoods and schools back in the 1950s.
But Jackson said she's seen a lot of division online. She's heard from some residents that teenagers don't belong at the library at all.
“Every time something bad happens, people pick up a soapbox to stand on, an issue to fight, and then they go into these small groups of people who agree with them,” Jackson said. “I would say they are a minority of us, but they are there. Some of it is actual discriminatory speech, and some of it is just people who are really misguided."
Gun violence doesn’t just tear families apart. It can also fracture entire communities. Research in East Harlem from 2023 shows that after witnessing shootings, children felt less safe in public spaces and schools. Kids also had more negative perceptions of their community, and were more likely to skip school, carry weapons and distrust adults. However, violence interruption programs have been shown to help reinforce conflict resolution tactics and change attitudes around community safety and violence.
How Shaker Heights is coming back together
A little more than a month after the shooting, people are starting to return to the library, including youth. Jessica Smith, youth services manager at the library, said that it just took a little time for them to come back.
“I think everybody needed space and time,” Smith said. “We're starting to see the numbers that we had before and the excitement for programs.”
In response to the shooting, the Shaker Heights Public Library is extra cautious; more patrol cars are in the parking lot, and more officers are patrolling inside.
Shaker Heights Police Chief Wayne Hudson said he wants his officers to follow some of the tactics that violence interrupters use — intervene early and teach good conflict resolution skills.
“We had law enforcement officers in the school that are making connections,” Hudson said. “My officers come here and they come to different spaces where teens gather, not to police, but to protect. That's our whole thing.”
The library and the city also partnered to host two community conversations, where Shaker Heights residents could voice their concerns in a productive and safe environment. These conversations highlighted the split in how Shaker Heights residents perceive their public library. An older generation sees the library as a place of solitude, a space devoted to quiet study and reflection. The younger generation, however, sees the library as a stand-in for a community center, a place they can go to hang out with friends and unwind after school.
Many community members have brought food to staff and lent a helping hand, even amid the division, said Amy Switzer, director of the Shaker Heights Public Library. Switzer added that she doesn’t see a conflict between the two views.
“The things that we stand for haven't changed, even though how services are delivered has changed,” Switzer said. “But I think we've always stood for things like free and open access to ideas and information. We've always been a place where you can form a sense of community.”
At the end of the day, the library needs to feel safe and inclusive for everyone, Switzer said. For her, that includes continuing to offer Shaker’s youth a place to decompress and hang out with friends.
