Warren authorities probe fatal shooting

By David Skolnick

The city this year has already surpassed the number of homicides it had in all of ’08.

WARREN — Despite about 100 witnesses, city police have little information on a shooting that left a 20-year-old city man dead.

“No one’s coming forward” to provide details of the murder of Derek Thrash about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, said police Sgt. Dan Mason.

Thrash, of Southern Boulevard, was standing outside the Big Apple Convenience Food Market on Youngstown Warren Road Southeast in a crowd of about 100 when he was gunned down, Mason said.

“A large group of people are outside there every weekend,” Mason said.

But after multiple shots were fired and before police arrived, the group — including the victim — were gone, Mason said.

Thrash was taken by friends about 30 minutes to an hour after being shot to Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital, where he died, Mason said.

Jihad Mahd, owner of Big Apple, said his store closed at midnight, about 21‚Ñ2 hours before the shooting.

“We don’t have any problems here,” he said. “But after the bars are closed, people come to the gas station next door and park in my store’s parking lot — 60 or 70 cars. There’s nothing I can do about it. I own a family store. We sell meat. My customers are family people.”

Police hadn’t made an arrest as of late Sunday and have no suspects or a cause for the shooting.

Mason couldn’t provide information late Sunday on the murder weapon or how many times Thrash was shot.

The last homicides in the city this year were Aug. 2, when two people were killed on Colt Court Southwest.

Thrash’s murder is the eighth homicide in Warren so far this year.

There were six homicides in the city in all of 2008.

Because of financial problems, the city laid off 20 police officers and 11 firefighters Jan. 1.

The police department has 61 officers, compared with 81 last year.

skolnick@vindy.com