Woman fatally shot near an apartment complex in Richmond Heights; suspect also deceased

RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio — Police in Richmond Heights confirm a woman is dead following a shooting outside an apartment complex on Tuesday evening.

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office reported that a 25-year-old woman named Mariah Symone Sanders was discovered in the vicinity of the 444 Park Apartments on Richmond Park East. Richmond Heights Chief of Police Calvin Williams disclosed that Sanders had been found in the street, while her 8-month-old daughter was unharmed nearby in a stroller.

After a pursuit for the perpetrator, identified as 23-year-old Shamar Summerall, Mayfield Heights authorities announced on Wednesday morning that he had passed away from what seemed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In a statement from the Mayfield Heights Police Department, it was revealed that the suspect was located unresponsive in Mayfield Heights South Park around 1 a.m. Officials stated that a firearm was discovered in close proximity to the suspect.

Officers from multiple area police departments were at the scene of the homicide, along with a SWAT truck. In addition, some residents of a building located at 446 Richmond Park East were temporarily evacuated after receiving tips that the suspect initially ran inside. 

“We would like to thank all our law enforcement partners for their assistance with this incident and investigation. Please join us in sending condolences to the families of all those impacted by this tragedy,” said Richmond Heights police in a press release on Wednesday. 

Meanwhile in Mayfield Heights, residents expressed concerns to police as to why the city’s Civic Ready alerting system was not implemented when Summerall was at-large. Mayfield Heights Police Chief Anthony Mele addressed the issue in a post on Facebook.

You are correct, Civic Ready should have been utilized for this incident. We will be analyzing how our department responded to this incident, what lessons were learned, and what we need to improve upon. The implementation of the Civic Ready alerting system is certainly something that we should have done to alert the public.  t is my responsibility to ensure our department does everything in our power to ensure the safety of the public, so the buck stops with me.  

Our dispatchers and officers did an amazing job in a very high stress situation. While this incident was taking place, our dispatchers were also dealing with an active fire in the city. Additionally, they were coordinating radio traffic with approximately 30 officers from multiple jurisdictions and fielding numerous phones calls of residents that called in suspicious noises.  

We truly appreciate all of the support from our residents.