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Firebombs found at scene of shooting
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Police and arson investigators were called to an East Side bar Tuesday afternoon that was the scene of a Sunday-morning shooting.
Firefighters responded to the Mi Raza Bar and Cafe, 1422 Oak St., about 1 p.m. after employees coming in to open the bar found a Molotov cocktail thrown through the front door and another thrown through a back window.
Damage was minimal. There were two small broken windows and a piece of charred siding on the back of the building.
Capt. Brad Blackburn said the devices did not catch the bar on fire. He said they were bottles filled with gasoline and stuffed with toilet paper as wicks.
Employees left at 9 p.m. Monday, and there were no signs of any foul play when they left, Blackburn said.
Detectives still are looking into the shooting early Sunday of Victor Alfonso Rojas-Pena, 27, who was shot there about 2:15 a.m.
Witnesses told police that Rojas- Pena was in an argument with someone in a car when that person fired several shots at him and drove away.
Blackburn said Rojas-Pena was just moved out of intensive care earlier Tuesday, so detectives will have a chance to talk to him and hopefully get some more information.
“We’re hoping he’s able to talk,” Blackburn said.
Police have no suspects.
Blackburn said further investigation is needed to determine if the firebombs are related to Sunday’s shooting, but he did say that having both incidents so close together is probably more than a coincidence. Blackburn said the bar has been open for about a year under new owners, and there has never been any major trouble there.
“They haven’t had any problems here since they opened a year ago,” Blackburn said. “It’s just odd they’re [shooting, firebombs] so close together.”