Domestic violence groups are calling for awareness to the lethal connection between firearms and intimate partner violence following the tragic shooting of a Cleveland news reporter.
Winnie Dortch, a reporter for Cleveland 19 News (WOIO), was shot during a domestic violence incident in Lakewood on Monday.
WOIO reported Dortch, 34, underwent surgery at MetroHealth Medical Center immediately following the shooting. She remains hospitalized but her condition is improving, the news outlet said.
These types of shootings are all too common when abusers have access to a firearm, said Molly Kaplan, a homicide prevention manager with the Journey Center for Safety and Healing, a domestic abuse support services group.
“The latest research says abusers’ access to a firearm increases the risk of homicide by 11 times,” Kaplan said. “And they found that states with the highest rates of firearm ownership had a 65% higher rate of intimate partner violence firearm homicide than states with lower rates of gun ownership.”
More needs to be done to take weapons from high-risk abuse households, Kaplan said. Removing weapons from a home in the most dangerous time for a victim of abuse can effectively decrease the person’s risk of becoming a victim of homicide, she explained.
"There is a law enforcement risk assessment tool called the Danger Assessment for Law Enforcement," she said. "It's done on scene with victims of domestic violence after an incident. The risk assessments tells us where this case is on the spectrum and we're able to sort of use that tool to remove firearms in these high-risk cases."
About one-third of police departments in Cuyahoga County use this program, Kaplan said.
Domestic violence fatalities have remained consistent in Ohio for the past several years, according to the Ohio Domestic Violence Network. Their annual report released this week found at least 114 Ohioans, 56% of them women, died in domestic violence incidents from July 1, 2023, to June 1, 2024. Two-thirds of the victims were killed by guns.
Lakewood police said they initially received a report of two people arguing Monday morning, followed by reports of shots fired near Chase Avenue and Clifton Boulevard. When officers arrived, they reported finding a man and a woman with gunshot wounds lying on the sidewalk, WOIO reported.
The man, who died at the scene, was identified by police as 34-year-old Bryant Carter, of Bedford, according to WOIO.
WKYC reported that Lakewood police believe Carter shot himself after shooting Dortch. A gun was found at the scene, police said.
WOIO is currently accepting well wishes for Dortch and her family online.
