Advocates highlight the connection between domestic violence and guns after the shooting of a Cleveland reporter

Domestic violence groups are calling for awareness of the deadly connection between guns 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 that Dortch, 34, underwent surgery at MetroHealth Medical Center immediately after the shooting. She remains hospitalized but her condition is improving, the news agency said.

Such shootings are all too common when perpetrators have access to a firearm, said Molly Kaplan, homicide prevention manager for the Journey Center for Safety and Healing, a domestic violence support group.

“Recent research suggests that perpetrators’ access to a firearm increases the risk of murder by 11 times,” Kaplan said. “And they found that states with the highest rates of gun ownership had a 65% higher rate of intimate partner violence homicides involving firearms than states with lower rates of gun ownership.”

More needs to be done to remove guns from households with a high risk of misuse, Kaplan said. Removing weapons from a home at the most dangerous time for an abuse victim can effectively reduce the person’s risk of becoming a victim of homicide, she explained.

“There is a risk assessment tool for law enforcement called Danger Assessment for Law Enforcement,” she said. “It is carried out on site with victims of domestic violence following an incident. The risk assessment shows us where this case is on the spectrum and we can use this tool, so to speak, to remove firearms in these high-risk cases.”

About a third of police departments in Cuyahoga County use this program, Kaplan said.

According to the Ohio Domestic Violence Network, the death toll from domestic violence in Ohio has remained consistent in recent years. Its annual report released this week found that between July 1, 2023 and June 1, 2024, at least 114 Ohioans, 56% of them women, died in domestic violence incidents. Two thirds of the victims were killed by weapons.

Lakewood police said they initially received a report of an argument between two people 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 lying on the sidewalk with gunshot wounds, 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 weapon was found at the crime scene, police said.

WOIO is currently accepting congratulations for Dortch and her family on-line.