Sunday, August 18, 2002
Police wouldn't release the man's name.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The blood soaked through the mat, ran down the floor, and collected in a foot-wide pool next to the door to the N and N Supermarket on the city's South Side.
Earlier, paramedics had been kneeling in the blood and working on a man who lay on the floor. Police said the man had been shot in the chest at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
The man was later taken to the emergency room at St. Elizabeth Health Center and was in guarded condition late Saturday. The N and N Supermarket is a convenience store located at the corner of Breaden Street and Glenwood Avenue.
Police and hospital officials didn't release the man's name Saturday night. The shooting is under investigation. The Mahoning County coroner was called to St. Elizabeth's at about 10:20 p.m. to help with the investigation.
Next to the blood, under a refrigerator chest adorned with beer and cigarette advertisements, lay a man's straw hat.
The store's glass door, which was covered with steel mesh, appeared free of bullet holes. No gun could be seen in the store from the street.
Worried residents
As the paramedics worked, South Side residents who had congregated around the flashing police lights on Breaden Street tried to determine who had been shot.
Many accounted for the whereabouts of their friends, relatives, or neighbors and talked about people they knew who owned gray cars. Police said a gray car that was parked on Breaden Street in front of the store had been driven by the shooting victim.
A trembling woman with wide eyes later approached the store. She wouldn't give her name to reporters, but she said her husband worked in the store.
The woman said police told her that her husband was still in the store and had not been shot.
The news that her husband was safe seemed to do little to calm the woman. She said she was fine as she backed away from the store, but her voice shook through the words.
A South Side resident in a security uniform stood in the street and made an effort to direct traffic.
"Keep moving!" she yelled, as the cars drove by.
hill@vindy.com