Squad removes firearms from attic

The resident was charged with felonious assault.

YOUNGSTOWN — A weekend shooting suspect was arrested and a shotgun, AK-47 assault rifle, revolver and World War II grenade casing were removed from 3025 Rush Blvd.

The pineapple-shaped grenade had no explosive in it, said Detective Sgt. Joe DeMatteo, head of the Youngstown Police Department Bomb Squad.

DeMatteo said officers who first entered the South Side apartment building at 3023-3025 Rush late Monday morning saw the grenade next to the guns in the attic and called for the bomb squad. He and Lou Ciavarella, another squad member, removed the guns and grenade, which they enclosed in a protective case, around 12:30 p.m.

Spencer Brown, the resident of 3025 Rush, was charged with felonious assault, said Detective Sgt. Rick Spotleson. The detective said Brown, no age given, was wanted in the weekend shooting of 19-year-old Jody Hunter of Brentwood Avenue.

Spotleson said patrol officers’ foot pursuit of Brown led to the apartment on Rush.

Hunter, who was shot in the face, walked into the Independent Taxi Co. on West Federal Street at 1 a.m. Sunday and identified Brown as the man who shot him, reports show. The shooting happened near Mercer and Edwards streets.

At least two other suspects were taken into custody for questioning from the apartment on Rush.

Yellow police tape was used to cordon off the two-story apartment building at the corner of Boston Avenue until 12:50 p.m. Monday. Uniformed officers kept curious neighbors and others away from the scene.

Before DeMatteo and Ciavarella brought out the grenade, Detective Sgt. Bill Ross warned the crowd to back up.

One neighbor said there’s been a lot of traffic at the apartment building.