BCI joins probe into shooting

Police recovered evidence of at least eight shots being fired near the Sweet residence.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

LIBERTY — The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation has joined the probe into the shooting that damaged the home of Youngstown State University’s president.

Dr. David C. Sweet, who has served as the university president since 2000, said he and his wife, Pat, discovered bullet holes and a bullet in their Fairway Drive home after returning from out of town last weekend.

The Sweets were away between Dec. 20 and 28 and discovered the damage on the morning of Dec. 29.

Liberty Township police reported recovering two .22-caliber bullet fragments from inside the home and eight .22-caliber bullet casings on the street outside the residence. The report also said two windows were broken by the shots and there was some interior damage.

Sweet said Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann called him Wednesday and said he would assign the BCI to work with Liberty Township authorities on the investigation.

The BCI serves as a resource to law-enforcement agencies throughout the state, particularly in the areas of analyzing DNA, ballistics and other physical evidence.

Sweet said he is unaware of any problems in his neighborhood that might be tied to the shooting, and the fact that there were apparently no related incidents in the area during that time period leads authorities to suspect that it might be “university-related.”

Sweet said he finds the shooting “disconcerting” and “unsettling” in light of violence that has occurred elsewhere in the country.

He said the university is working with Liberty police on additional efforts regarding security and apprehension of the person or persons responsible.

YSU Police Chief John Gocala said his department is also working with Liberty on the case and that he isn’t aware of any threats made against Sweet.

The house is owned by the Sweets, not the university, but YSU police do check on the residence when Sweet is away.

Campus police did check the house between Dec. 20 and 28 but didn’t notice anything amiss, Gocala said.

gwin@vindy.com