New video shows ambush murder of Cleveland mayor’s grandson (exclusive)

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - New video evidence obtained by 19 Investigates reveals the murder of Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson’s grandson was caught on camera.

Frank Q. Jackson, 24, was gunned down at the Heritage View Homes housing complex on Sept. 19.

A surveillance camera on the property, which is owned by the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, recorded the moments Jackson was ambushed by a gunman between two homes on Anita Kennedy Avenue near Sidaway Avenue shortly after 9 p.m.

He was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:23 p.m.

Police radio traffic recordings from the CMHA Police Department show officers were able to watch the surveillance footage within minutes of responding to the murder.

“Alright, our camera was facing it,” a CMHA police officer reviewing the video said. “It’s a little far away, it’s grainy, it’s jumpy, but we have persons, we have gunshots. We have some vehicles that CPD would probably like to see.”

The camera that captured the deadly shooting is motion activated, according to CMHA, which they said explains why there appear to be jumps in the footage.

Right before the shooting, the video shows a man get out of a car on the 6900 block of Anita Kennedy Avenue. The man, who is wearing a dark shirt, runs across the street to where the shooting happens.

Police on the scene said Jackson was wearing a black shirt at the time of his death.

The surveillance camera footage then skips, revealing a man wearing what police describe as a white or gray hooded sweatshirt.

He walks slowly between the homes and then fires a gun, hitting Jackson several times.

“Hood dropped over his head. Walked up behind him. Several shots,” an officer said over the radio.

The flashes of light from the gunfire can be seen on the video.

Jackson died of “gunshot wounds of head, trunk, and extremities with visceral, vascular, skeletal and soft tissue injuries,” according to medical examiner’s records.

Preliminary autopsy results reviewed by 19 News in September revealed Jackson suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his head, back, right arm, and left underarm area.

According to the medical examiner’s records, Jackson was found lying face-up near a dirt bike.

Prior to the shooting, a man wearing a white shirt can be seen in the surveillance camera footage riding a dirt bike on Anita Kennedy, in front of the area where Jackson was killed a short time later.

A light-colored car with a large panoramic sunroof also appears in the video multiple times before the shooting.

At one point, the driver stops to talk to a guy in a white shirt.

The same car appears to later park directly in front of the side yard before Jackson is shot.

Late Wednesday, the Cleveland Division of Police released the 911 call made by Jackson’s cousin who said she was the one who had dropped him off on Anita Kennedy to retrieve his “red and white dirt bike”.

“Mayor Frank Jackson’s grandson asked me to drop him off somewhere,” she said to the 911 dispatcher. “When I dropped him off to go pick up his motorcycle, the dude jumped out of a gray Chrysler, tinted windows, and shot him. I’m not there no more because I pulled off because they started shooting.”

She described the suspect as a male wearing “some light blue jeans, some Timberland boots, a white jacket with a yellow face mask.”

The witness later told the dispatcher the suspect was wearing a “white pullover hoodie” and describes the vehicle as a gray Chrysler 300 “with all tinted windows.”

Immediately following the shooting, surveillance video showed the car’s headlights turn on and the vehicle drove away.

Another CMHA surveillance camera positioned near the corner of Sidaway Avenue and Kinsman Road recorded the suspect vehicle as it left the Heritage View Homes complex and turned right onto Kinsman.

RELATED: Cleveland mayor’s grandson named as ‘prime suspect’ in West Side murder case; police not planning to hand over investigation to another agency

It is unclear if the surveillance video and witnesses’ information has yielded any suspects.

The Cleveland Division of Police is the lead agency investigating Jackson’s murder.

The department has not confirmed if any suspects have been identified or arrested.

Crime Stoppers of Cuyahoga County is offering a cash reward of up to $5,000 for tips that result in the identity and prosecution of anyone involved in Jackson’s murder.

If you have any information, please contact Crime Stoppers at 216 252-7463 or submit a tip online.

Tipsters can remain anonymous and do not need to provide a name to receive a reward.

Link for online tips: http://www.25crime.com/

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