Staff photo / Ed Runyan The Brothers of Power Classic Cars Club at the corner of Logan and Tacoma avenues on Youngstown's South Side is shown Sunday morning after three men were shot to death and two other people were injured by gunfire at and around the club at 3:45 a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN — Three men in their 30s were shot to death early Sunday at the Brothers of Power Classic Cars Club at Logan and Tacoma avenues on the North Side. Two others also suffered gunshot wounds but were in stable condition Sunday night.

Police are working to confirm the identity of a suspect in the crimes, Lt. Brian Welsh of the detective bureau of the Youngstown Police Department said Sunday. It is undetermined whether there was more than one shooter, he said.

“Upon arrival, officers were met with a chaotic scene,” Welsh told reporters later Sunday morning. Officers arrived within one minute of the 3:45 a.m. call of multiple gunfire and shooting victims and saw multiple people trying to get away from the scene. Victims were taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital by ambulance and private vehicle.

Welsh said the shootings involved a “large crime scene” that included the parking area of the club as well as the inside of the club. Detectives are still trying to determine what started the conflict, Welsh said.

The identities of the victims were being withheld pending notification of the families of the victims.

Police said they expect to release additional information this morning.

One of the areas officers were investigating in the hours after the shooting was north of the club near a building with the words “Pit Stop Classic Car Sales LLC Taylor Inc.” at 1547 Logan Avenue. The club’s main address is 1532 Logan Ave.

Red stains that appeared to be blood drops were seen in the snow across the street from the club. Police said those might have been the result of victims being taken from the shooting scene and transported to the hospital.

There was a fire at the Brothers of Power Classic Cars Club early Thursday, but Welsh said police do not know whether the fire and shootings are related.

A man who lives in an upstairs apartment at the building called 911 at 5:10 a.m. Thursday, saying he awoke to smoke. He was able to get out safely. Youngstown police detectives were investigating after the fire.

In December 2017, the the club gave away 50 turkeys along with stuffing and cranberries to the first 50 people that come through the doors of Pit Stop Cafe on Logan Avenue in Youngstown, WFMJ-TV 21 reported at the time.

“Just doing anything positive for the community. Youngstown gets a bad names sometimes but we are just trying to bring our community up, make it look good, and celebrate Christmas, make everybody happy,” B.O.P Classic Cars Club member Robert Taylor told the TV station then.

Youngstown police also investigated a separate shooting that took place at about 8 or 8:30 p.m. Saturday on Hunter Street on the South Side that injured one person.

If Sunday’s deaths are officially ruled homicides, it would mark the third, fourth and fifth homicides of the year. Youngstown recorded 20 homicides in all of 2019, the lowest total since 2016, when there were 19. The city had 28 homicides in both 2018 and 2017.

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