YOUNGSTOWN — A man in his 20s was shot to death in a vehicle on I-680 on Tuesday afternoon. The Youngstown Police Department has called it a homicide and said the victim was targeted.

A Youngstown police report states that officers were notified at 4:13 p.m. of the shooting near northbound exit 4A, which is the U.S. Route 422 / state Route 193 exit.

When an officer arrived at the scene, he found a white man in the vehicle who was deceased with apparent gunshot wounds, the report states. Detectives, crime scene investigators and the coroner’s office took over the scene.

I-680 North was shut down between the South Avenue and U.S. Route 422 / Route 193 exits while police were investigating.

If it is ruled a homicide, it will be the 16th of the year in the city. It will be No. 17 if the June 13 officer involved killing of Mathue O’Malley, 27, in the 100 block of South Maryland Avenue is counted as a homicide. The city had 22 homicides in 2023.

Marquis Whitted and Kylearia Day, both 19, were also shot to death in a car traveling on I-680 on Jan. 5, 2023, in the northbound lanes not far from where the man was found dead Tuesday afternoon.

In that episode, police were called to the interstate near the Salt Springs Road exit at at 10:43 p.m. for a possible accident and discovered the two gunshot victims in a Nissan Altima with numerous bullet holes.

Whitted died at the scene, but Day had a pulse and was taken by ambulance to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, where she died, according to Youngstown police. No arrests have been made in those killings.

The last homicide before Tuesday’s killing was the 6:28 a.m. Monday discovery of the body of a 34-year-old man on the side of the road at Liberty Road and Wardle Avenue on the East Side. His name has not yet been released.

A motorist notified police after seeing the body. The man had been shot.

Anyone with information about the homicides is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 330-746-2583 with tips or information, which can be left anonymously.

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