DAYTON — A beating at an apartment complex that ended with a person shot is another incident of gun violence that Dayton police say is part of a troubling trend.
Police arrested Trinity Andebrhan, 18, Thursday night on suspicion of threatening, punching and choking a friend at the Northlake Hills Cooperative complex, on Lakebend Drive then shooting a second woman who had come to the aid of Andebrhan’s friend.
The woman who was shot was hit multiple times. Her condition was not known Friday. The woman who was beaten up suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Both were taken to Miami Valley Hospital.
Police were dispatched to the 3700 block of Lakebend Drive about 9:41 p.m. on the report of a shooting, according to Montgomery County Regional Dispatch.
Violent gun crimes are up nearly 20 percent in the first six months of 2023 compared to a year ago, according to the Dayton Police Department. Thursday night’s incident is not surprising to Dayton Chief Kamran Afzal, but it is concerning, he said.
Violent crime across the country has surged in the fist half of this year, the chief told News Center 7′s Mike Campbell. In Dayton, the chief said, incidents of shooting into habitations is up 27 percent year over year.
The police department is launching a new strategic plan in light of the statistics, and taking on crime reduction initiatives is a big part of that plan, Chief Afzal said.
“I can tell you it won’t be to reduce crime by 10 percent because I want zero crime, probably not possible but I don’t want. . . It should be 100 percent reduction, right. That’s what you go for,” the chief said, noting that police can and will do all they can but true crime reduction often is the result of community action and the changing of community attitudes toward what is acceptable.
Andebrhan, who turns 19 on July 14, remains jailed on two counts of felonious assault, a single felony count of strangulation, and single misdemeanor counts of assault with intent to cause harm and aggravated menacing. She is to be in court the week of July 10 to answer to the charges.