City records 3 weekend shootings
YOUNGSTOWN — Two reports of gunfire were reported to police Friday evening at the intersection of Center Street and Poland Avenue. A third report of gunfire was about 1.2 miles away on East Midlothian Boulevard early Sunday. No injuries were reported in any of the incidents.
FIRST REPORT
Gunfire was reported at 7:14 p.m. Friday involving two vehicles on Center Street and Poland Avenue. Officers were dispatched to the 2000 block of East Midlothian Boulevard to talk to the person who called 911.
The caller was at the northbound red light at Poland Avenue and Center Street when they started to hear gunfire from two nearby vehicles, the report states.
The caller initially thought it was fireworks until they saw the vehicles “flee the area.” One of the involved vehicles went across the Center Street bridge. The caller then drove from the intersection, parked their vehicle and called police.
A Youngstown officer saw a bullet hole in the front driver’s side fender near the driver’s door. The bullet did not travel into the interior of the car near the driver, and the driver was not injured.
SECOND REPORT
Another report came in at 7:10 p.m. Friday from another person reporting being shot at while on the Center Street Bridge at Poland Avenue.
That driver said they and a passenger were southbound on the bridge and stopped at a red light on Poland Avenue when they heard popping noises and did not know what they were.
They heard something hitting their vehicle but were not sure what it was. They eventually realized it was gunfire and they were being shot at. The driver drove south on Shirley Road and then onto another road and stopped in a parking lot to call 911.
The vehicle had bullet holes. The vehicle had just been purchased a few weeks earlier, causing the two people in the car to wonder if it was a case of mistaken identity, the report states. Officers checked for bullet shell casings, but could not locate any, possibly because of new fallen snow, the report states.
The vehicle had been hit on the driver’s door and driver’s side rear molding. That bullet traveled into a tire. Another bullet hit the back of the vehicle, and another hit the passenger side.
The two people in the car estimated about seven shots were fired, but other calls coming into 911 indicated that 10 to 20 shots were heard.
THIRD REPORT
At 1:59 a.m. Sunday, a call was made to 911 regarding gunfire near a tavern on East Midlothian Boulevard and the shooter leaving the area in a dark colored Dodge Charger heading north on Shirley Road. Officers could not locate the vehicle.
Officers went to the Midlothian address and spoke to the person who called 911. The person said there was video of the incident. It showed a group of men and one woman passing a gun back and forth just before the shots were fired. The individuals appeared to be in their late 20s or early 30s, police said.
The report suggests that the group was on foot.
At one point in the video, a man in a dark hooded sweatshirt raised a gun and fired four shots into the air and ran to a silver Dodge Nitro waiting across the street in the parking lot of the Lucky 7 Express Mart, 1396 E. Midlothian Blvd. The vehicle then headed north on Shirley Road.
Officers found four bullet shell casings by the south corner of the building, the report states. Later, three more shell casings were found near the first four.
The report noted that no suspect had been identified at the time the report was written.