Police in Toledo kept searching Sunday for the gunmen who wounded 12 people near the Old West End Festival, a day after gunfire broke out just after 5:30 p.m. Saturday beside the summer event. No arrests had been made by Sunday, and officers said the victims were stable and improving.
The victims ranged in age from 14 to 61, with most in their early 20s, according to police Lt. Dan Gerken. The shooting near the crowded festival turned what should have been a weekend gathering into a crime scene, and it immediately became the focus of a widening manhunt.
Deputy Police Chief Joseph Heffernan said investigators believe at least two shooters were probably shooting at each other when the rounds were fired near the festival grounds. Authorities were talking to victims and witnesses and reviewing camera footage as they tried to identify the gunmen and piece together what led to the exchange of fire.
Several hundred people were at the festival when the shooting started. The annual event includes live music, food markets, a beer garden and activities for children, which made the violence even more jarring for a gathering meant to draw families into one of Toledo’s longtime community traditions. The story drew local attention alongside other festival coverage, from a Toledo shooting near Old West End Festival leaves multiple victims update to reports on events elsewhere, including ORF2 führt „Militärmusikfestival 2026“ für Licht ins Dunkel im TV-Plan and Calvin Harris brings long-awaited Italy return to Nameless Festival in Lecco.
Heffernan said the festival had extra police officers on duty, a large number of off-duty officers working for the event itself and mobile security cameras in place, yet the gunfire still erupted. That gap between the security plan and the outcome is now at the center of the investigation, because it raises the question of how a shooting could unfold in full view of a heavily monitored public event.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he was deeply concerned about the shooting and said summer festivals should be safe spaces for families to spend time together without fear of violence. The Old West End Association said Sunday’s festivities would be canceled, saying after discussions with organizers, law enforcement and the city that it would not be compassionate, responsible or possible to continue the festival. With the victims improving and the search still active, police now face the task of finding the shooters before the case hardens into an unanswered public fear.
