Campbell man tells how fatal shooting unfolded

Police said the intruder was wearing a nylon stocking cap on his head and face.

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

CAMPBELL — Nicholas Galanses told police he went to the garage door after the front door bell rang and asked, “Who’s out there?”

On his way to the garage door, Galanses, who said he never answers his front door, picked up his .357 magnum revolver from his dining room hutch.

When he opened the door to the attached garage, he saw a man run into the garage from the front porch side of the driveway.

The intruder, later identified as 19-year-old Ronald G. Harrison II of Bright Avenue, was raising a black handgun toward him and yelling “give me the money ....”

Galanses, 40, standing halfway inside the dining room and halfway in the garage, said he feared he was going to be shot. He raised the .357 magnum and fired several shots at the intruder.

Police, responding to calls of shots being fired, found Harrison lying on his stomach in the street just to the right of the driveway of 332 Porter Ave., Galanses’ home.

The policeman said Harrison was wearing a black coat and blue jeans and a nylon stocking cap on his head and face. The officer pulled the stocking cap off and saw Harrison was bleeding from his mouth. He had no pulse, police said. Harrison was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center.

After the shooting, Galanses said, he ran back into his house, put the gun on the dining room table, called 911 and waited for police to arrive.

Officers found Galanses’ pistol on the table, with five spent .38 special rounds and one live .38 special round. Revolvers chambered for .357 Magnum can also fire the less-powerful .38 special rounds.

Harrison’s pellet gun was found on the garage floor near the dining room door, where Galanses said he saw Harrison drop it.

Galanses’ father, George, was in a bedroom watching television when he heard shots fired. George Galanses told police he called out to his son, who told him that someone had tried to rob him.

Galanses gave a statement at the police station, and also gave a breath sample, which yielded a 0.156 alcohol level, according to reports.

Harrison’s family was notified of his death, and his body was taken to the Mahoning County coroner’s office and then to Cleveland for an autopsy.

As of Thursday afternoon, no charges had been filed in the shooting.

If ruled a homicide, Harrison’s death would be the third homicide in the city this year.

On Nov. 15, Marvin L. Hodges, 29, was shot to death in the 100 block of Jackson Street in the Michael J. Kirwan Apartments.

On Jan. 12, Shawn L. Woodall, 28, of West Chalmers Avenue, Youngstown, was gunned down about 12:40 a.m. in the area of the 100 block of Lettie Avenue, near Freedom Avenue.

alcorn@vindy.com