Police said a fleeing driver crashed into several vehicles, shot a man on Clement Avenue and then died in a nearby backyard.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Residents in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood were left sorting through fear and confusion after a police pursuit Wednesday ended with a crash, a shooting and the death of the suspected gunman.
Investigators said the violence unfolded across several nearby streets after Cleveland police were called to help Newburgh Heights officers involved in the pursuit. The driver, later identified as 23-year-old Jumel Lewis of Cleveland, crashed into several vehicles, fled on foot and shot another man before dying from what police described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The episode left one shooting victim hospitalized, multiple crash victims hurt and neighbors trying to understand how quickly the danger moved onto their block.
According to police, the pursuit reached East 74th Street and Harvard Avenue, where Lewis crashed into several vehicles. Officers said he then ran south through the neighborhood. Near the 7400 block of Clement Avenue, police said, he shot a man who was later taken to a hospital in stable condition. Investigators said Lewis continued into the area of Park Avenue and died in the backyard of a home in the 7500 block after shooting himself. The medical examiner identified him Thursday as Jumel Lewis. Authorities have not said what prompted the original pursuit or whether the man who was shot had any connection to Lewis.
For neighbors, the incident came with little warning. Jalen Kirksey, who lives on Park Avenue, said the sound of gunfire was at first hard to separate from fireworks. He said the shots came in rapid succession, making clear that something more serious was happening. Kirksey said he grew up in the neighborhood and has seen violence before, but the latest episode still struck close to home because of how near it came to where families live. His concern, he said, was immediate: keeping his wife safe while police converged on the area and the neighborhood filled with uncertainty.
The aftermath stretched beyond the shooting scene. Cleveland police said the people injured in the crash at East 74th and Harvard also were in stable condition. That left investigators working two connected scenes with different kinds of evidence: damaged vehicles and injured motorists at the intersection, and gunfire evidence and witness accounts in the residential blocks to the south. The department said its Accident Investigation Unit was handling the collision while Cleveland police investigated the shooting. Officials did not immediately release the number of vehicles involved in the crash or the identities of the other injured people.
The case reflects the way a pursuit can quickly shift from a traffic emergency to a broader public safety crisis. Within a short span, the incident moved from a roadway into front yards and backyards, affecting drivers, residents and at least one man struck by gunfire. Police have said Lewis shot the victim and then himself, but many parts of the sequence remain unclear, including whether officers were close behind when he ran from the wreck and how he encountered the shooting victim on Clement Avenue. Those unanswered questions are now central to the investigation.
As of Thursday, the immediate emergency was over, but the investigation was still active. Detectives were expected to keep reviewing witness statements, physical evidence and the path Lewis took after the crash. For residents on Park and Clement avenues, the focus had already shifted to what happened on their streets and why. The neighborhood’s latest violent episode ended with one man dead, another recovering in the hospital and several families left with damaged cars, shaken nerves and no full account yet from police.
Authorities said the wounded man and the crash victims were stable, and investigators continued working to clarify the pursuit, the shooting and the final minutes before Lewis’ death.
Author note: Last updated June 5, 2026.