Staff report

BOARDMAN — The Family Fun Festival at Southern Park Mall ended abruptly this weekend, after police broke up a large fight, and it was not the only unfortunate incident to spoil the festivities.

On Friday morning, a man was found dead in his trailer at the site of the carnival.

The Boardman police report identifies him as Jerid Shafers, but it does not provide an age or say where the man lived. The report states Shafers was working at the carnival, but does not say what company employed him.

The report states that police responded just before noon, along with Lane LifeTrans paramedics, and found Shafers blue and not breathing. They tried to revive him, but eventually pronounced him dead at the scene, with the approval of his personal doctor, given by phone.

The report states that Shafers had started working for his employer only within the past week and had passed a drug test. The employer told police Shafers had been complaining of chest pain recently.

One of Shafers’s coworkers told police he last saw him alive Thursday night about 11:30 p.m., and told them they were drinking and Shafers passed out. He told police he found Shafers at 10:30 a.m. Friday and he was not breathing.

Police and the Mahoning County Coroner’s office investigated, and the report states that some drug paraphernalia was found in both men’s trailers, though it does not say if drug use is suspected as a direct cause of Shafer’s death.

The carnival began Tuesday and was supposed to conclude at 11 p.m. Saturday. But police shut it down early after a group of about 30-40 people began fighting. The police report states that the group dispersed after some officers used pepper spray and no arrests were made.