Amid barrage of gunfire, boy dies and man is hurt

The gunshot victim who called police didn't know where he was.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Police suspect drugs are behind the homicide of a 14-year-old South Side boy and the attempted slaying of a 19-year-old man at an East Side house.
Diamond Artillo, the 19-year-old shooting victim, called police around 11:15 p.m. Thursday saying he was shot but didn't know where he was. Police were able to determine the call came from a house on 2151 Stewart Ave., and arrived there 19 minutes after Artillo called.
Police said they found Alexander Dawson, the 14-year-old victim, face down on a pillow on the floor with a fatal gunshot wound to the side of his head.
Artillo had multiple wounds to his legs and one to his abdomen and was wearing only underwear when officers found him, police said.
Officers asked Artillo who shot him, and he only mumbled, police said. He is in critical condition in St. Elizabeth Health Center's trauma unit.
There are no suspects.
Was a runaway
Dawson lived on the city's South Side on Ravenwood Avenue, said police Lt. Robin Lees. His mother reported him as a runaway Wednesday, the day before he died, Lees said. Dawson left home Oct. 13, telling his mother he didn't want to live on the South Side, Lees said.
Artillo lives on the East Side, but police didn't have his address Friday.
It isn't known if Dawson and Artillo were living at the Stewart Avenue house at the time of the shooting, police said.
At the crime scene, police found 14 large-caliber, brass casings fired from an assault rifle and five spent shells fired from a shotgun. Police said they found multiple bullet holes throughout the house.
The front porch window was shattered by a shotgun blast, and police found the two males on the living room floor.
Suspected crack
The house had only two pieces of furniture, a television, a space heater and an amount of suspected crack cocaine that is "probably more than what would be considered for personal use," Lees said.
"With the drugs in the house, it may be drug-related," he said.
Because two guns were used, police believe there were two shooters, Lees said.
Two men outside
Before entering the residence, police saw two men in their late 40s standing in the Stewart Avenue house's driveway next to a white GMC Jimmy. In front of the car was a gray Ford Ranger pickup truck.
When asked by police, the two said they didn't hear shots fired and saw no one shooting at the house. But one said he saw two black men get out of the truck, which was stolen Oct. 5, and walk behind the house, police said. Police released the two men.
Dawson is the fourth minor slain in Youngstown this year.
Dawson's homicide is the 30th in the city this year. In 2004, Youngstown had 22 homicides for the entire year.
skolnick@vindy.com