The next-door neighbor happened to be on his porch when the shooting started.

The next-door neighbor happened to be on his porch when the shooting started.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The two young men in the beat-up Ford with the faded red paint came "strapped" with guns to settle a score.
The Wednesday afternoon shooting at 279 Benita Ave. on the North Side -- a stone's throw from The Rayen School -- injured two and left one dead.
Victims: Alexander Scott, 19, of Tod Lane, who was wounded in the groin in the 1:30 p.m. shooting, died at 5:35 p.m. in St. Elizabeth Health Center of multiple gunshot wounds.
Stefon Breedlove, 17, same address, was in critical condition today in the hospital, with neck and shoulder wounds.
Vandy Bryant, 17, of Roslyn Avenue was in stable condition, with wounds to his chest, left leg and abdomen.
Breedlove told police that he went to the house with a man he knows only as "Jimmy." Once at the house, Breedlove got into a fistfight with Bryant, and a man he knows only as "DS" shot him, reports say.
Derrick Jones, a 16-year-old Lauderdale Avenue boy suspected of being involved in the shootout, was taken to the juvenile justice center, charged with a probation violation. Earlier in the day, at 8:15 a.m., he and another boy had been inside Rayen, were involved in a fight, and when caught by police on Redondo Road, received summonses for trespassing.
The scene: After the gunfire -- witnesses said they heard at least 10 shots -- wailing sirens from a convergence of cruisers and ambulances jolted the typically quiet, tree-lined street.
The chaotic scene led dozens of motorists, blocked from getting near the crime scene, to park their vehicles and wander over to see what happened.
The first officers on the scene saw about eight boys on the porch. A deputy located two handguns under a large tree in front of the high school.
A witness inside Rayen said she saw two young men running on Cordova Avenue toward Harding School and shooting back toward the Benita house as they ran. The woman said she heard the sounds of "a hell of a fight."
Detective Sgt. Jerry Shuster said one victim, later identified as Scott, had run across Cordova Avenue and collapsed near Rayen's auditorium; one fell on the porch and one dropped in the driveway. A tow truck removed the red Ford around 3 p.m. to be held for detectives.
Patrolman John Patton and Robert Mauldin from the crime lab found a gun on the sidewalk across the street and three more near the house where the shooting took place. Mauldin collected numerous casings from the driveway.
Those involved in the shooting have been engaged in a long-standing feud. Some are suspected of being members of the Cash Money Cousins gang, police said.
Bystander: Tom Lomax, who lives next door to 279 Benita with his wife and two children, saw the old red car back into the driveway and then heard the kids on his neighbor's porch yell, "They're strapped!"
Deafening gunfire erupted and at least one boy on the porch had a gun and returned fire, he said.
Lomax, 53, said there have been complaints about boys' congregating on the porch. Detective Sgt. Bill Rafferty of the juvenile division said the problem with kids being at the house had subsided but then started again.
House's occupants: Geraldine Allen, who lives at 279 Benita with her 16-year-old daughter Kendra, said she thought she had corrected the problem of kids' hanging out on her porch. Kendra had a doctor's appointment and wasn't home when the shooting began around 1:30 p.m.
Allen, 41, works the day shift at General Motors and received a call there to come home.
"I let [police] search my house; I have nothing to hide," Allen said.
Earlier, Allen's father, 65-year-old Luke Logan of Delaware Avenue, had waited patiently outside the yellow police tape that cordoned off the house and street. All he knew when he arrived was that kids had been shot outside his daughter's house, and he feared one could have been Kendra.
Kendra's cousin, Danielle Purdie, 15, said she was in the house when she heard arguing and screams and someone yelling to call an ambulance.
Danielle said she had a final exam to take at Rayen and was at her cousin's for a visit beforehand.
meade@vindy.com