YOUNGSTOWN Police investigate after body is found

A body was discovered today on the city's West Side, the victim of an apparent gunshot wound.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Yellow police tape and several cruisers called attention to a body in the weeds as a school bus carried children on the first day of school down Greenwood Avenue to Waverly Avenue.
The male body, found about 6:45 a.m. today by Youngstown Patrol Officer William Golec, was naked lying face up among scattered litter and an abandoned tire on the city's West Side. The man was bound and gagged with silver duct tape.
Youngstown police Detective Sgt. Gerald Maietta said it appears as if the man suffered one gunshot wound to the head. He said the body of the unidentified man had been in the weeds since sometime after midnight.
It is unclear whether he was killed there or in another location and dumped, said Lt. Robin Lees, Youngstown police public information officer. He said there were no reports of gunfire or unusual activity in the area overnight.
The scene
Bill Agnone Jr. stopped to watch the police activity on his way to work. He's lived in the neighborhood for two months and said the killing makes him "very, very nervous" because his children stay with him every other weekend.
"This just ain't cool," he said. "I never heard anything like this around here. It's not the Ritz Hotel, but it's been pretty quiet."
Two women who work nearby stopped to ask police if they should lock their door.
"This was always our biggest fear," said one.
Police said the man, who is black, had a tattoo of a face on his left forearm and another tattoo on his upper right shoulder that appeared to be a tiger. Lees said anyone with a missing family member or friend who may fit the description should call Maietta or Detective Sgt. Jose Morales at (330) 742-8911.
viviano@vindy.com