Man dies of wounds after being shot in car

By Joe Gorman

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

A man who was shot in a car late Tuesday at a North Side housing project was not alone.

Chief of Detectives Capt. Brad Blackburn said there was another person inside the car where Ralph Thomas, 20, of Church Hill Road, Girard, was wounded about 9:50 p.m. Tuesday.

Thomas was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital to be treated for his injuries, where he later died. His death is the city’s 11th homicide of the year and second within a week.

Blackburn said Thomas was inside the car at Dupont and Hammaker streets with the other person when someone on foot fired several shots at the car, striking Thomas, who was found by police in the driver’s seat. The other person who was in the car with Thomas was not shot, Blackburn said.

Blackburn said he did not want to speculate as to why Thomas was at the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority Property in the first place.

YMHA authorities are cooperating with detectives investigating the case and have given them access to video surveillance at the complex where the shots were fired, Blackburn said.

A search of court records could only find a citation that Thomas was issued in 2014 in municipal court for excessive window tint on a vehicle.

Last Friday, police found the body of Albert Bianco, 51, of Masury, inside a car that was on fire at Knapp and Seifert avenues on the East Side.

He also had been shot. There have been no arrests in that case.

In 2015, Youngstown had 23 homicides. At this point last year, the city had 12 homicides.