A search for suspects in Ohio who opened fire near a busy street festival stretched into Sunday after 12 people were wounded in the weekend shooting that sent crowds scrambling for cover in a historic Toledo neighborhood.
Each of the dozen victims — ranging from teenagers to people in their 60s — were in stable condition, the Toledo Police Department said Sunday. No arrests have been made and authorities have not identified any potential suspects.
The gunfire erupted Saturday near the Old West End Festival, a popular annual summer gathering along streets dotted with Victorian homes. Videos posted to social media showed people running at the sound of gunfire and medics tending to the wounded in a park filled with event tents and food trucks.
Toledo Deputy Police Chief Joe Heffernan has said it appeared that at least two people fired weapons and were “probably shooting at each other.”
As the search for the shooters wore on, Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates vowed “justice will be swift and strong.”
“Those who were frightened, traumatized or harmed by this violence will remain at the forefront of our efforts. I’ve felt outrage before, but this is personal,” Bates said in a statement. "This is my home. These are my friends and neighbors. It is not OK.”
In a brief update posted to social media Sunday, Toledo police said investigators were continuing to make progress and were following multiple leads. Authorities have urged festivalgoers to come forward with any photos or videos that might have caught a glimpse of the suspects.
Hundreds of people were at the festival, an annual two-day celebration in Toledo’s historic district featuring live music, food vendors, home tours and shopping. Located in northwest Ohio near the western edge of Lake Erie, Toledo is about 55 miles (90 kilometers) southwest of Detroit.
“As far as violence, this is over the top, right?” Toledo police Lt. Dan Gerken said Saturday. “Twelve people being shot, that’s the most I’ve been to a scene. I’ve been to a lot of scenes, but this is way over the top.”
The remainder of the festival was canceled Sunday. Organizers said “it would not be compassionate, responsible or possible" to continue through the weekend.
“We are heartbroken about those that were injured at the Old West End Festival,” the festival said in a statement.
The victims ranged in age from 14 to 61, with most of them in their early 20s. Fire Chief Allison Armstrong said it was difficult for emergency responders to get the injured to the hospital due to closed roads and traffic leaving the festival, but all were transported within an hour.
Kevin Berry was sitting in the neighborhood arboretum listening to live music with friends when he heard gunshots ring out.
“Everybody hit the deck,” he said.
When Berry looked back up, he saw a gun being tossed to the ground less than 50 feet (15 meters) away from him. Officers who were already on site for the festival responded immediately.
Berry, who has medical training and served in the Navy, walked around looking for anyone who might need help and saw at least five people with gunshot wounds.
George Kral, the city’s safety director, said the Old West End Festival is one of the most iconic festivals in Toledo.
“And it’s a shame that something like this had to ruin it," Kral said.
The Ohio shooting was one of at least two episodes of mass gun violence in the U.S. over the weekend.
In Kansas City, Missouri, nine adults were injured in a shooting early Saturday, police said. Officers dispatched to the area about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of downtown found a large crowd dispersing. Police said none of the victims had life-threatening injuries and that no suspects were in custody.
Police investigate where multiple people were shot at a community festival at Agnes Reynolds Jackson Arboretum Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Toledo, Ohio. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
The Agnes Reynolds Jackson Arboretum is shown where multiple people were shot at a community festival Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Toledo, Ohio. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
LITOCHORO, Greece (AP) — Snow-capped for much of the year, Mount Olympus, mythological home of ancient Greece’s 12 Olympian gods, has captured the imagination through the millennia. Rising to 2,918 meters (9,573 feet) from a base practically at sea level, the ancient Greeks believed the throne of Zeus, king of the gods, stood on the highest of its craggy, often mist-shrouded peaks.
Now, modern-day Greeks hope their tallest mountain will be inducted into UNESCO’s World Heritage List as a mixed cultural and natural site. The nomination is to be discussed when the World Heritage Committee meets in Busan, South Korea from Sunday through July 29.
“Olympus is our life. It is the place we grew up in,” said Evagelos Geroliolios, mayor of Dion-Olympus, based in Litochoro, the mountain’s main town. “It is the place we see every day, but at the same time, it is also a place which carries with it myth, history, biodiversity, extraordinary beauty and a very great cultural weight.”
Few locations are as central to ancient Greek mythology as Mount Olympus. It was here that Zeus was said to have established his court after overthrowing his father, Cronus, in a 10-year war that ended the reign of the Titans.
Interest in Olympus may receive another boost with the theatrical release this week of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” a new adaptation of Homer’s epic, in which the mountain serves as the home of Zeus and the Olympian gods who influence Odysseus’ journey.
On one of Olympus’s lower peaks, excavations have uncovered an open-air sanctuary, with the oldest finds dating to the Hellenistic period, which ran from 323 B.C. to 30 B.C. According to Greece’s original UNESCO nomination, the sanctuary is believed to have been one mentioned by the ancient philosopher and historian Plutarch, who in the 2nd century wrote of processions to one of Olympus’s peaks for animal sacrifices to Zeus.
The mountain retained religious significance into the Christian era. Α chapel on the peak of Prophet Elias, at 2,803 meters, is believed to be the highest altitude chapel in the Christian Orthodox world. The mountain’s Enipeas Gorge holds the remains of a monastery founded in 1542, while a roughly 20-minute walk from there leads to the Holy Cave of St. Dionysios, a chapel built into a cave from where a small spring flows, believed to carry holy water.
The mountain’s slopes, which reach practically to the sea, also host a wealth of flora and fauna, including endemic species. It is this blending of culture, myth, natural beauty and biodiversity that locals hope will see their mountain declared a World Heritage site.
“It is a place we love. It is a place that many people from all over the world visit to see, to live, to experience. We want to protect it,” Geroliolios said. Its inclusion on UNESCO’s list would be “something very big that goes beyond not just local boundaries, but national boundaries. It is something that concerns the entire world. It is very important.”
Greece began the process to have Mount Olympus recognized as a World Heritage site in 2014, inscribing it on its Tentative List — the mandatory first step in any nomination. The Tentative List is where countries include sites they can then formally nominate over the next five to 10 years.
The nomination process includes a preliminary assessment followed by submission of a full nomination file, which is then evaluated over 14 months by advisory bodies, including the International Council on Monuments and Sites, ICOMOS, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Recommendations by the advisory bodies are then discussed during the World Heritage Committee’s annual meeting, where representatives of 21 countries vote on nominated sites.
Greece's Mount Olympus nomination is far from certain. A draft of the Busan meeting's agenda indicates the committee will refer the nomination back to Greece and request further details.
Still, locals hope the mountain’s cultural and natural wonders will secure it a place and will play a role in securing more protection for the mountain.
The mayor, Geroliolios, said inclusion on the World Heritage list “places some greater obligations on our part to protect this environment.”
Environmental protection is also foremost in the mind of mountain guide Babis Marinidis, president of the Alpine Club of Litochoro.
Including Olympus on UNESCO’s World Heritage list would likely attract more people to the mountain and the surrounding area, Marinidis said. “How many people can this mountain, this ecosystem, bear?” he asked. Although much of Olympus was designated a national park decades ago and there are regulations in place, many are openly flouted, with Marinidis saying visitors regularly ignore “no swimming” or “no camping” signs.
The ever-growing number of visitors had led local authorities to consider imposing entrance fees and registering visitor numbers. “I used to be against that,” Marinidis said. “But now with so many people, I believe some limit must be imposed.”
The mythological home of the gods attracts hikers and mountaineers from across the world. While technical climbing experience isn’t mandatory to reach the summit, the mountain is also not to be trifled with.
With its combination of changeable weather and treacherous terrain, it has claimed many lives. The most recent fatality was on July 11, when a 64-year-old Greek hiker died after collapsing on a trail. In May, rescue crews found the body of a 25-year-old Spanish man days after he went missing while attempting to reach the summit in the snow.
“You need to be careful,” and safety measures must always be kept in mind, said 32-year-old hiker Triantafyllos Giannospyros, who was visiting the mountain for the first time. “But with care and with good organization, it isn’t something you should be afraid of.”
Stavroula Vourou, who runs a hotel in Litochoro, the town from where many hikers set off, echoed his sentiment.
“Everyone sets off to go up and conquer a mountain that needs respect,” she said. “You respect this mountain, it respects you too.”
Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Associated Press journalist Srdjan Nedeljkovic contributed to this report.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
A statue of Alexander the Great holding Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, stands near Litochoro in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, backdropped by Mount Olympus' highest peaks, Mytikas and Stefani. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Theodoris Papaioannou tends his kiwi orchard, backdropped by Mount Olympus, near the village of Dion in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
A butterfly stands on a wildflower in the Enipeas Gorge on Mount Olympus in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
The morning light shines on Mytikas, Greece's highest peak, center left, and Stefani, known as the Throne of Zeus, center right, atop Mount Olympus seen from the outskirts of Litochoro in northern Greece, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
A visitor approaches a chapel at the Holy Cave of St. Dionysios in the Enipeas Gorge on Mount Olympus in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Candles burn outside a chapel at the Holy Cave of St. Dionysios in the Enipeas Gorge on Mount Olympus in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
People swim beneath a waterfall in the Enipeas Gorge on Mount Olympus in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
A statue of Alexander the Great holding Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, stands near Litochoro in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, backdropped by Mount Olympus' highest peaks, Mytikas and Stefani. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Sunflowers bloom in Kalyvia Varikou, near Litochoro in northern Greece, backdropped by Mount Olympus, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
