Teen charged in shooting that wounded 2 in downtown Cleveland square after tree lighting ceremony

CLEVELAND (AP) — A teenager has been charged in a shooting that wounded two other teens in a downtown Cleveland plaza about an hour after a Christmas tree lighting ceremony last month that drew hundreds of spectators, authorities said.

Cuyahoga County prosecutors and Cleveland police announced Wednesday they had identified the 15-year-old, whose name wasn’t released, as “the suspected shooter” in the Nov. 25 shooting at Public Square on the night of the annual WinterLand Cleveland tree lighting ceremony. Officials said he turned himself in to authorities earlier this week and was being detained in a juvenile detention center.

The teenager faces charges in juvenile court of discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises, four counts of felonious assault, a count of inducing panic and a weapons charge. Prosecutor Michael O’Malley and police Chief Wayne Drummond said they were grateful for tips from the public in the case.

Authorities said a group of young people were reported fighting at about 8:40 p.m. on Nov. 25 near the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument in the southeast quadrant of the downtown square.

Law enforcement officials allege that the 15-year-old fired several shots into the group, injuring a 13-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy before fleeing the scene. The two wounded youths were treated at a hospital. Television news footage showed people in the square running for safety after the gunshots.

Michael Deemer, president and CEO of Downtown Cleveland Inc., called the WinterLight ceremony “a great celebration of the season” that was “marred later by senseless violence.”

The president of the Cleveland City Council, Blaine Griffin, also said he was “deeply saddened” by the blemish on “what otherwise was a beautiful evening.”