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Judge says shooting like a ‘wild west’ movie
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Judge R. Scott Krichbaum said he has seen the shooting Shaquille McElroy was being sentenced for in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court before: in the movies.
Westerns, actually, after Judge Krichbaum read police reports of the shootings, an arson and other shootings on the East Side in early January that landed the 22-year-old McElroy two years in prison on a charge of aggravated assault with a firearm specification.
“It just reminds me of this Wild West crap where no one gives any consideration to the law and there is no one to answer to,” Judge Krichbaum said Tuesday.
McElroy, of Dryden Avenue, was originally charged with felonious assault but the charge was reduced as part of his plea agreement. He must serve at least one year in prison on the firearm specification. He was charged with firing a shot Jan. 3 at a woman who was in a car on the East Side. She was not injured.
Assistant Prosecutor Steve Masczak said the shooting stemmed from a feud on the East Side. Judge Krichbaum read from police reports of the feud, which told of a shooting at McElroy’s house on Dryden Avenue, then an arson on Forestview Avenue, several vehicles being shot at and damaged at Woodside Avenue and Lansdowne Boulevard, and other shooting incidents on Dogwood Lane and Woodside Avenue.
No one was injured in those incidents.
The judge said the only reason McElroy didn’t hurt anyone is because he was a bad shot. Judge Krichbaum said McElroy should have either run from the trouble or called the police. When the police were called, the problems seemed to stop immediately, Judge Krichbaum said.
“This is how outrageous this is that you just go and react to what’s going on,” Judge Krichbaum said. “That goon mentality is what gets you put into a situation where you’re now going into the penitentiary.”
McElroy apologized.
“I didn’t mean for none of it to go that way, your honor, and I’m facing the consequences for it now,” McElroy said.
His attorney, James Lanzo, said it was the first felony offense his client has had, but Judge Krichbaum said when someone’s first felony involves shooting a gun at another person, that is not a mitigating factor.
Judge Krichbaum said he decided to go with the two-year sentence because it cannot be appealed and he noted people were also shooting at McElroy, although he added that did not excuse his conduct.