AKRON, Ohio — It started off just like any normal night for Tracy Blackmon as she sat in the stands with her husband, watching her son and nephew play high school football.
But what she didn’t know as she was walking into the stadium is this was a night that would change her life forever.
“We looked down and there was blood all on my pants, all on my shoes, and he had lifted up my pant leg and you could see where I got shot with the bullet. There were two holes right there and it was just bleeding,” said Blackmon.
Tracy’s son, Darion, is an offensive linemen for Akron East and was on the field when the shooting started. Darion describes the scene by saying, “We were just on the field playing, and the play was over and then all you heard was gun shots, then everyone started running, so we started running, then I turned around because I remembered my parents were over there and then my dad was like ‘D, your mom got shot, she got shot.’ so then I had to climb my way over the fence and help carry her down.”
Tracy has undergone several surgeries since the day she was shot, but she says the worst scars she received that night were emotional.
“I never even knew it was coming, and that in itself is just scary because we could have got killed or one of the kids on the field could have got killed, and it’s just sad that these kids are out here killing other kids,” she said.
Unfortunately, Tracy’s situation is not unique. The Akron police say that there has been an increase in violent crimes throughout the city, especially those that involve young people.
“We’ve had some young people, five in particular that are 18 and under that have been impacted by gun violence over the last several months. Some as young as one and two years old. We’ve had a six and an eight year old. That is the epitome of tragic,” Lieutenant Miller with the Akron Police Department said.
The Akron Police tell us they have been seizing a high number of illegal hand guns each week in efforts to help bring down the violence throughout the city.
“Collectively, we are recovering weapons, and making arrests for folks carrying illegal handguns, and so it just remains a challenge for us that we are committed to, to finding unique ways to approach this so we can bring these numbers down,” said Miller.
