CINCINNATI — Residents and business owners are calling on the community for support a little more than a day after a mass shooting in a popular Cincinnati neighborhood left nine people injured.

Maurice Wagoner is still grappling with emotions related to the incident near 13th and Main Street in Over-the-Rhine. Right now, he’s feeling distraught, he said. His first emotions are for the victims of the shooting. But he also feels bad for the neighborhood he’s lived in and loved for the past 12 years.

“My first thought was, ‘Oh no, not again,’” said Maurice Wagoner, the longtime president of the OTR Community Council. “Not in our community.”

The gunman opened fire just before 1:40 a.m. Sunday in a crowded stretch of Main Street. He fled after a Cincinnati Police Department officer fired at him.

Nine injuries are the most in a shooting in Cincinnati since a 2017 incident at the Cameo nightclub in the city’s East End neighborhood, according to Cincinnati Enquirer, a Spectrum News partner.

CPD joined the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Monday night to announce an award for information that leads to an arrest.

“I’m so glad it wasn’t nine deaths, but there were still nine people injured and so many others affected by this senselessness,” he said. “We’ve come so far as a community and this was just terrible to see.”

Wagoner described Saturday as an “isolated incident” between a group of people who got into a fight. 

He called Main Street a “fabulous spot overall,” especially on weekends. A lot of people gather there to hang out, cook food on the sidewalk, play music and “have a good time,” he said.

But there are several known spots — such as a stretch of Main near Woodward that connects to Ziegler Park – that residents have concerns about, Wagoner said. He feels there’s a certain element in the group who “haven’t adapted to the way that our community has transformed."

“They need to find somewhere else to go,” he added.

Wagoner isn’t the only one grappling with the aftermath of this weekend’s shooting. Following the incident, Lindsey Swadner, who owns the Main Street bar The Hub OTR, said Sunday she’s growing frustrated and fearful.

There’ve been 23 confirmed shootings in Over-the-Rhine this year, per city data. Only one victim died.

Swadner asked the city to provide mental health support to OTR bartenders and servers after all they’ve been experiencing.

On Monday night, counselors worked with the staff at The Hub and a handful of other local bartenders and servers in a closed session, according to mental health provider Talbert House, a social services provider.

Marquita Alexander “thanks God” she wasn’t on Main Street last weekend.

“It seemed out of control,” she said.

Alexander works in OTR during the day and sometimes comes downtown to take part in the fun on weekends. It’s usually a “fun time” but she noted that sometimes some of the younger members of the crowd “start acting crazy.”

While she didn’t think the weekend incident represented a “trend,” the “boldness” of the shooter’s actions — and, really, the crowd in general — shocked her.

There’s “always police cruisers after every intersection” on Main Street during the weekend, she said. And officers were already at the scene dispersing a crowd along Main Street when the fight escalated and the shooting happened.

“If you’ve got enough guts to pull out a gun in front of maybe three, four police cars, I’m scared of you,” she said.

Alexander said the city has done a good job creating resources — whether they’re mental health or professional — to help address violence in the community. But none of it will work if they can’t better connect with young people.

“Trying to talk to these teenagers and young people in this day and age is really difficult because they think if you disagree with them, then they’re against you,” she said. “If you aren’t telling them what they want to hear, they won’t listen to you.”

Part of the solution is mental health support, according to Teri Nau, a spokesperson for Talbert House. Perhaps just as important, she said, is getting the community to recognize the importance of mental health.

“We’re trying to break down that stigma,” she said. “The biggest thing we can do is encourage people we know are struggling to reach out and get the help they need.”

Nau said it’s key to get to people when they’re younger to let them know that there are other ways to work through their emotions. They partner with local school districts to ensure support services are available to those who need them.

“You’re seeing counselors embedded in school systems to reach students and parents where they are when crisis or behavioral health challenges arise so we can address them, keep them in school, keep them learning and help them work through emotions and feelings that they are dealing with.”

A key part of that mental health messaging is instilling a level of “hope” and “purpose” in young people, said Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, Cincinnati’s vice mayor. She feels providing things like job paying jobs and educational opportunities is one way to do that.

The City of Cincinnati announced a $1 million annual Career Pathways program last week to help teens and young people find a career. The goal is to offer something to give people another reason to think long term before they make a decision, Lemon Kearney said.

"It’s a different mindset when you have a good job to look forward to — you have a career, you can support your family and you’re excited about life,” she added. “That’s the culture we’re trying to bring here that’s missing in a lot of places because there’s so much hopelessness and that’s what people know.”

Lemon Kearney reiterated that these programs aren't overnight solutions. "They're a solution to this problem, but they'll take time," she said.

In the meantime, the vice mayor pledged to continue working with community partners and CPD to find temporary solutions to address shootings in Cincinnati.