43
Gunfire chipping away at neighborhood peace
Photo
ONE FAMILY’S STRUGGLE: Francis Humphries, of Albert Street, holds a bullet and shell casing he collected on his property after his home was recently hit with gunfire. He can point to the multiple bullet holes in the siding of his house and has taken to recording late-night activity around his home.
Photo
SMALL HOLE, BIG REMINDER: A hole in a dryer is a grim reminder of the violence that takes place outside the Francis Humphries East Side home and often spills over into the family home. Humphries says he is tired of the gunfire and noise around his home in the late-night hours.
The homeowner has resorted to making audio and video recordings of the criminal activity.
YOUNGSTOWN — Francis Humphries has called his Albert Street neighborhood home for more than three decades, but now the 70-year-old is growing weary of living there.
It’s not the house or the neighbors that have Humphries looking differently at the area he has called home for so many years. He enjoys the house and has watched scores of young people, including his own children, grow into adulthood.
A glance at the yellow aluminum siding on the exterior of Humphries’ home tells why he is frustrated with the changing neighborhood. Humphries can count the bullet holes in the siding and can remember a general date for each of the holes.
Some of the shots miss the house and hit other things on the property. A truck parked in the yard still has a shattered windshield from an errant bullet weeks ago.
The most recent gunfire to hit the Humphries home was July 26. A report filed with the Youngstown Police Department shows that eight shots were fired into the house and an additional four shots were fired into a vehicle on the property.
Humphries said he was awakened to about a dozen shots in the last incident at 4 a.m.
He does not believe, however, that the shots are intentionally directed at his house.
“This is an ongoing thing. The shots come from this place down the road that stays open 24 hours a day,” said Humphries.
His home now has cameras strategically placed around the perimeter, and he often sits up through the night making audio recordings of noise violations. The cameras and audio recorders cover the area immediately around the house, a nearby convenience store and a gas station where he says the problems are most prevalent.
When he is not outside recording, he captures the activity from a monitor hooked up in a bedroom.
“Why they would shoot up my place, I don’t know. I don’t buy drugs. I don’t drink. You come to my door, and I would feed and clothe you,” he said. “The young kids who have all gotten older and moved away used to hang out here.”
The young people are not the only people to move out of the neighborhood. Humphries’ wife, fed up with the gunplay and damage to the property, has also left the family home to stay with one of her children in Weathersfield Township.
Humphries’ son Eugene Humphries lives a short distance from his father, and though he has not abandoned the area, he too has grown tired of how the neighborhood is changing.
“It’s like the OK Corral around this place lately,” he said.
Francis Humphries says he calls the police, but the response time can be up to an hour after the gunfire, and by that time, those involved have all left the area. He is now collecting his own evidence for police to use in prosecuting the shooters and those violating noise ordinances.
Capt. Kenneth Centorame of the Youngstown Police Department said if Humphries claims patrons of the nearby business are responsible for the activity, he should report that business to authorities — because the owner can be held responsible for activity around the business.
Francis Humphries says he hopes the police department takes a true zero-tolerance approach to the area around his home, stopping the congregating at the nearby stores and cracking down on all the activity in the middle of the night.
He has heard many say he should consider leaving the area, but that is simply not possible.
“This just brings tears to my eyes. I have done what I can do, and it’s just been rough. If I had the money, I would move out of the city of Youngstown,” he said. “Where am I going to go? I am on a fixed income, and I don’t have the money to start over again now. Why do I have to suffer for dumb stuff?”
jgoodwin@vindy.com