Police seek witnesses in shooting

The police chief said there are many reasons behind the city's homicides.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Police are asking the public to help fill in sketchy information they have in the case of Warren's latest homicide.
John Wright, 18, of Warren, for whom no exact address is known, appeared to have been shot once in the head. Police listed the death as an aggravated murder.
Police found Wright dead Wednesday evening near the sidewalk outside an apartment building at 1190 Roberts Ave. N.W., said police Chief John Mandopoulos.
Mandopoulos asked anyone with information to contact the police department. "We just feel that there were people out there who saw what happened," he said.
The chief urged people with information to contact Lt. Gary Vingle at (330) 841-2656.
Mandopoulos said a hostile crowd of 40 to 50 onlookers who gathered at the scene after the shooting delayed detectives' work.
Wright was fatally shot at 8:18 p.m. the night after the fatal shooting of Artis C. Jones Jr., 28, of Wick Street Southeast -- who was also shot in the head.
Jones, shot with a handgun at 8:48 p.m., was found lying on the sidewalk at Transylvania and Carolina avenues on the city's southeast side. Jones died Wednesday afternoon in St. Elizabeth Health Center.
No suspects are in custody in either case.
Death count
The deaths of these two young men bring the total of shooting deaths in the city in recent weeks to five.
Vingle said the city has had seven homicides so far this year, compared to no more than four in all of last year.
There are various reasons for the city's homicides, including drugs, unpaid debts and domestic disputes, Mandopoulos said.
A combination of a depressed local economy and a police officer shortage are contributing factors, he said. The police department, which should have at least 85 officers according to a consulting firm the city hired, has only 72, he said.
To help reduce the city's homicide rate, Mandopoulos said city residents should get to know and watch out for their neighbors so they can report suspicious activity to police. "Know their names, their phone numbers, a description of their houses," he urged.
Although the city once had a block watch program, the chief said he knows of no functioning organized block watches in the city.
"In the old days, we used to be worried about nosy busybodies checking into everybody else's business. We should welcome that in this day and age because that nosy person may save your life. The police need that kind of cooperation," the chief said.
Other cases
Mandopoulos said every homicide bothers him. "It eats at me until we finally get a conviction," he added.
U On Nov. 21, Kameil Watson, 16, of Warren died of multiple gunshot wounds. Police believe he was among four males who tried to rob a pizza shop owner as he was delivering food to a house in the 1500 block of Kenilworth Avenue Southeast. The shop owner fired three shots from a handgun when one of the four brandished a knife and demanded money.
U Oct. 22, Angeline Lavine, 37, of Scott Street Northeast was fatally shot in the head with a handgun in a residence at 422 Summit St. N.W. David Nolan Hollie, 26, of Porter Street Northeast, is charged with aggravated murder in that case.
U Oct. 7, Desion Brown, 21, was fatally shot in the 2400 block of Willow Drive Southwest. His brother, Edward A. Brown, 20, of Peace Avenue, was arrested later the same day in Youngstown and charged with murder.
milliken@vindy.com