YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown police say they were told that two males wearing all black and ski masks ran from the scene of a 2:24 a.m. Thursday homicide at the Shell gas station, 1907 South Ave.

They fled down nearby Samuel Avenue, cutting through the yard of the second house down the street, a Youngstown police report states.

When police arrived, they found the victim, a man, 26, in the driver’s seat of a Chevrolet Cruze backed into a parking spot near the entrance to the building. Police have not identified the man.

Windows on the car were shattered, and bullet shell casings were found on the ground nearby and one on the windshield.

Police sent their dog into the area where the suspects fled, and it led to the finding of a handgun with an “extended magazine” and a knife, but the report does not mention finding any suspects. A police department news release states that police did not make any arrests.

Ambulance personnel declared the victim dead at the scene, and detectives, crime scene investigators and a coroner’s investigator arrived to carry out an investigation. The car was towed for investigative purposes.

The homicide is the second one at the Shell gas station this year.

Keimone Black, 29, was shot to death at the same gas station about 3 a.m. June 15. Black was found in a sport utility vehicle with numerous bullet holes in it and Black on the ground next to it with multiple gunshot wounds. He died at the hospital, police said.

Samuel L. Byrd Jr., 68, is charged with aggravated murder in that case and awaiting trial.

Thursday morning’s homicide was also the third one in three days in the city after going more than two months with none.

Tips leading to an arrest and / or prosecution of Thursday’s homicide are eligible for a reward, the police department stated in a press release.

To provide information, call Crime Stoppers at 330-746-CLUE or 330-746-8YPD. Tips can be left anonymously.

Police also are still investigating the shooting deaths of a man, 51, and woman, 41, who were found on the floor of a home in the 1900 block of Cherry Hill Avenue on the West Side about 3 p.m. Tuesday. The Mahoning County Coroner’s Office identified them as Kimberly Kalasky and Joseph Sanders.

Before those deaths, the previous Youngstown homicide was the 10 p.m. Oct. 7 shooting death of Aaron Rogers IV, 29, of Youngstown, who was killed in the area of East Evergreen Avenue and Erie Street on the South Side.

His family recently increased the reward being offered for information that leads to the indictment and conviction of the person or persons responsible for his murder to $25,000.

Thursday’s homicide is the 23rd this year in the city. There were 30 in 2021.

erunyan@vindy.com