Suspect in prom shooting walks out of hospital, remains at large

The shooting suspect left the hospital with a bullet lodged in his neck.
YOUNGSTOWN -- An 18-year-old man charged in a shooting near the Wilson High School prom Friday night walked out of St. Elizabeth Health Center on Saturday afternoon, where he was being treated for a shoulder wound.
Youngstown police are looking for Kevin Dotson, of North Belle Vista Avenue, Youngstown, who faces weapons and drug charges in a shooting that occurred Friday evening near the South Side high school campus as students participated in their prom promenade.
Also arrested and charged was Ronaldo Miller, 21, of East Dewey Avenue, Youngstown. Miller, who is Dotson's cousin, was in Mahoning County jail Saturday evening.
Both men are scheduled for arraignments Monday morning in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in the shooting, which also left a 17-year-old student from The Rayen School wounded in the foot. She is in stable condition at St. Elizabeth.
Disappeared
A nursing supervisor at St. Elizabeth said late Saturday afternoon that Dotson had left the hospital earlier in the day, but she wouldn't comment when asked if he had been released.
According to police reports, Dotson had been on "police hold" at the hospital, meaning that he would be sent to jail after he had completed treatment for his injuries. The bullet that wounded Dotson in the left shoulder had not exited, but was lodged in his neck, police reports said.
Youngstown Police Chief Robert Bush said that he didn't know whether an officer had been assigned to watch Dotson in the hospital, explaining that the decision is left up to the officer in charge at the time.
He said he learned Saturday afternoon that Dotson had left the hospital. He said the department hasn't yet issued an alert but will issue an escape warrant for him. "We have people looking for him," Bush said.
Youngstown City Schools spokesman Mike McNair said the shooting apparently had nothing to do with any Wilson High School activity.
"It was completely unrelated," he said. "But our schools are part of the community, and sometimes the ills or problems of the community can encroach beyond the boundaries of the schools."
He said Friday night's prom, held at the Embassy Club in Struthers, went smoothly, and that because many of the students had already left for the prom when the shooting occurred, many were unaware of it.
McNair said that the presence of police officers or other security at local high school proms isn't unusual.
"It appeared that everyone had a great time," he said.