Car riddled with bullets; driver listed as critical

YOUNGSTOWN — Chalk circles were drawn around the bullets and casings that landed on the pavement just past noon today during the shooting of the driver of a white Pontiac Grand Prix traveling east on Hilton Avenue.

The male victim, who was alone in the car, was in critical condition at St. Elizabeth Health Center, police said. His identity was not released.

Detective Sgt. Daryl Martin said the victim had been crossing the railroad tracks on Southern Boulevard at Hilton when shots were fired from a blue Chevrolet Cobalt, which had two black men in it. The car jumped the curb and stopped in the 100 block of Hilton. Martin said the white Pontiac had 16 bullet holes in it. Bullets hit the driver’s side of the vehicle, smashing out both windows. Martin said the victim is known to police and that he was likely shot last summer on the South Side.

Robert Mauldin, a crime lab investigator, placed yellow numbered placards near the 22 chalk marks and photographed each one.