Eight Whites Shot by Black Man After Alleged Harassment

CLEVELAND —  Months of racial tension in an overwhelmingly white neighborhood erupted with the shootings of eight whites by a black man, and the FBI said Wednesday it has begun a civil rights investigation into whether the area’s only black family was harassed.

A 24-year-old black man opened fire with a shotgun late Tuesday night, aiming at a group of people who had earlier set fireworks outside the black family’s house in the working-class neighborhood on the city’s West Side, police said.

The man, who had been visiting the family, was arrested but not charged. None of the eight people shot was seriously injured.

The black family, which moved into a county-owned house in February, had been subjected to taunts by some neighborhood whites for weeks, said city Councilman Jay Westbrook. Mayor George V. Voinovich said Wednesday the Justice Department should investigate whether racial harassment charges should be filed.