YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — City police believe a single person is responsible for firing a series of shots early Sunday that wounded three people in the parking lot of a South Avenue bar.
Chief of Detectives Capt. Rod Foley said at a press conference Wednesday to discuss violence in the city that detectives believe it was one gunman who opened fire about 2:50 a.m. Sunday in the parking lot of 2210 South Ave.
You can watch the entire press conference below:
Foley said two of those who were wounded were treated the same day, and a third person is still recovering. He would not release more information, saying the case is an “ongoing investigation.”
Foley would also not say where police believe the shot was fired from that killed Reshaud Biggs Jr., 17, just after 10 p.m. Sunday as he was pumping gas at the corner of East Avondale and South avenues. All he would say was “the perpetrator was in the area.”
Police have not made incident reports available for either shooting.
At the press conference, Mayor Jamael Tito Brown and police Chief Carl Davis said officers are working on ways to help bar owners deal with large crowds at last call and that the state will also be assisting in that effort.
Police say too often security cameras are failing at the bars and restaurants where these shootings are taking place. They have put together a plan to visit the owners to see if the security systems can work properly and what it will take to fix them.
“We have met with several bar owners recently and have discussed plans to make clubs safer by actively prompting dispersal at the end of the night,” Chief Davis said.
The department will also be assisting in helping them as they make arrangements for private security, Davis said.
In 2021, the city has seen shootings at five nightclubs, three of those on South Avenue, that have killed five people and wounded 15 more.
Overall in 2021, 72 people have been shot in Youngstown, 17 of them fatally. Last year at this time, 49 people were shot, including 17 of 18 homicide victims.
Last year 98 people were shot in the city, including 27 of the city’s 28 homicide victims.