Submitted photo / Boardman police This SUV crashed at Meadowbrook Avenue and Market Street in Boardman on July 11 after being fired upon.

BOARDMAN — Police have identified the man they say shot at two women last weekend, causing a crash on Market Street, and are warning the public to watch out for him.

In a news release, Boardman police Chief Todd Werth said Eugene G. Thompkins, 35, of Youngstown, remains at large and should be considered armed and dangerous.

“Warrants have been issued for Thompkins’ arrest for two counts of attempted murder, four counts of felonious assault and one count of improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation. The investigation continues of other involved individuals who were in the vehicle with Thompkins at the time of the shooting,” the release states.

Anyone with information on Thompkins’ whereabouts or other information related to the case are asked to call Boardman police at 330-726-4144.

Police did not say exactly how they determined Thompkins to be the primary suspect, but the police report states that in the immediate aftermath of the July 11 shooting, investigators went to the gas station where the confrontation between the men and women began, and they were able to view the station’s security camera video, which showed four men, including one matching the description of the shooter, getting into a black Chevrolet sedan that also matched the victim and witness descriptions.

The report states that the video also showed a temporary tag in the upper left of the rear window, and police determined that it was registered to someone in Campbell.

A Flock license plate camera on South Avenue captured that same vehicle passing by it three times that day, between 4:18 p.m. and 7:24 p.m. A Flock camera along Interstate 680 also picked up the vehicle on July 4.

One of the victims told police she saw the man at the Gateway Gas Mart on South Avenue and immediately tried to get away because of a bad history with the man. She said the car he was in caught up with her SUV at Southern Boulevard near Meadowbrook Avenue, and he leaned out of the driver’s side of the vehicle and opened fire.

The driver was shot in the wrist and her passenger’s face was injured by shattering glass. Two children who were in the car, ages 1 and 4, were not injured in the incident.

The women were able to drive away from the shooter, but crashed and overturned at Meadowbrook and Market.

Witnesses on Gertrude Avenue told police they saw a man in a red and black hoodie leaning out of a sedan and shooting at the SUV. One of the bullets struck one witness’s Gertrude Avenue home.

A LONG CRIMINAL HISTORY

Thompkins is no stranger to law enforcement. His record in Youngstown and Mahoning County contains felony charges and convictions.

In 2009, Thompkins pleaded guilty to one count of having weapons under disability, a third-degree felony, and a corresponding charge of carrying a concealed weapon (fourth-degree felony), was dropped. He was sentenced to a Community Corrections Association program.

In 2011, he pleaded guilty to trafficking in cocaine and was sentenced to 18 months of probation. A bench warrant was issued in December 2012 after he was charged with a probation violation, and he failed to show up for court.

He was later sentenced to one year at Belmont Correctional Institution, with credit for 269 days, on the probation violation, that term running concurrent to his sentence in another case from 2012.

In that case, he pleaded guilty to two counts of breaking and entering and one count of possessing criminal tools, all fifth-degree felonies, and was given probation. But after a probation violation he was ordered to serve one year on each count, along with the probation violation time from the earlier case.

In 2013, he was charged with heroin possession, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to two years probation, but another violation in 2014 got him a six-month stretch in prison.

In December 2013, he also pleaded no contest to driving under suspension.

In 2016, he was charged with cocaine trafficking again and ultimately sentenced to nine months in prison and a six-month license suspension.

In 2018, he pleaded guilty to a charge of having weapons under disability, and charges of carrying a concealed weapon and obstruction were dismissed. For that, he did a nine-month prison stint.

In 2023, Thompkins was again charged with having weapons under disability and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle. He pleaded guilty to both and was sentenced to one year on each count, to be served concurrently, at Lorain Correctional Facility.

In May, he was charged for having weapons under disability, and that case is ongoing in Judge R. Scott Krichbaum’s court.

On July 1, he was charged with tampering with evidence and drug possession in a case bound over from Youngstown Municipal Court.

Thompkins’ record in Youngstown Municipal shows 23 cases since 2009, including two counts of breaking and entering, multiple counts of drug possession, multiple counts of having weapons under disability, and domestic violence, along with various misdemeanors and traffic offenses.