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Probe of shooting continues
YOUNGSTOWN
Police continue investigating the shooting death of a 14-year-old boy on the city’s North Side, but police Chief Rod Foley has offered an explanation as to how the shooting could have been accidental.
Suadonte Wright, 14, of Tod Lane, was found near the intersection of Kensington Avenue and Tacoma Street on Monday evening dead of a gunshot wound to the head. He had been walking in the area with a 15-year-old teen with whom he lived.
A witness living in the area told police she saw Wright and the other teen walking down Kensington just before 9 p.m. Monday. The pair spoke to the woman and kept walking, then the woman heard two gunshots. Wright was seen lying in the street right after the shots were heard.
The teen walking with Wright also was seen running away from the scene of the shooting shortly after the shots were fired.
Foley said police believe Wright could have been playing with the gun and accidentally shot himself in the head with the first shot. He said the gun could have been fired a second time toward the ground as Wright fell to the ground with his finger still on the trigger.
Detectives working the case took photos of and spent time inspecting what appeared to be a small hole in the street where a bullet could have been fired into the ground.
Detectives found three shell casings in the area around Wright’s body, but have not recovered the gun. Police said a large crowd had assembled before police arrived, and the gun could have been stolen.
The boy who was walking with Wright, according to police, ran home to get help immediately after the shooting, but has been forthcoming in the investigation. Foley said the boy’s story is in line with the evidence in the case.
Two pieces of evidence that will help police close the case are the gunshot residue test given to Wright and the other boy. Foley said the boy willingly submitted to the test, but it could take four to six weeks for the results to come back from the state testing facility.
“The only thing we can do is keep plugging away for information. We have the kid’s statement and it matches with what the detectives are seeing,” he said, adding he hopes the gun-residue test from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation will be done as soon as possible.
Police have not determined where Wright got the gun, but they do believe he had the weapon for at least several days before he died.
Foley said police have not ruled out the possibility of filing charges on the gun’s owner if it can be determined who that person is, or anyone who played a role in the shooting if it is determined not to have been an accident.
“The investigation is certainly not over. We will wait for all the evidence to come back and make a group decision with prosecutor’s office and coroner on what needs to be done,” the chief said.