DAYTON — Dayton’s Police Chief said too many instances of retaliatory gunfire are threatening innocent lives.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, retaliatory gunfire can happen in drive-by shootings, but most often happens during what Dayton police call “shooting into habitations.”
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News Center 7’s Mike Campbell sat down for a one-on-one conversation with Dayton Police Chief Kamran Afzal about this kind of violence.
Afzal said the case involving Isabella Carlos is the worst result of shootings into habitations.
“She was just sleeping in her bed, and they were thinking they were targeting one house, and it ended up not being that house and, I mean, that’s tragic right?” Afzal said.
In August 2024, two young men missed the duplex they aimed for and killed the 12-year-old girl.
These types of shootings can lead to a cycle of violence.
“It’s something that we track because that can result in retaliation by individuals that are being victimized and they then become the offenders,” Afzal said.
The offenders can also become the victims.
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As previously reported by News Center 7, four young people fired shots from outside a home on West Second Street in November 2024.
The resident inside defended himself and fired back, which killed a 23-year-old man.
“None of this is natural to us, right, committing harm against somebody else?” Afzal said.
News Center 7 has reported on a couple of close calls in 2025.
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One involved a baby after someone shot into a home on Paul Laurence Dunbar Street.
Bullets also just missed a 15-year-old girl in her apartment when a gunman opened fire from outside a large housing complex.
Afzal said there is good news here. Shooting into habitation crimes are at a five-year low.
The city recorded just over 100 of them in 2025.
The Violence Interruption Program may help even more.
“The focus is going to be to make sure that retaliation doesn’t occur,” he said.
These kinds of shootings often end in death or young people behind bars.
Javen Conner and Antawan Benson were recently convicted and sentenced in Isabella Carlos’ death.
Three juveniles in the West Second Street incident are now charged with murder.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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