West Side home damaged by gunfire

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Detectives are investigating after a West Side home was shot up early Friday and someone threw a Molotov cocktail at it that did not explode.

Officers were called to a home just after 5:30 a.m. in the 400 block of North Osborn Avenue, where reports said two people in the house told police they were awakened by gunfire.

Police could smell gasoline outside the house and found a broken bottle filled with gasoline that did not explode.

There were bullet holes in the side of the home and a car in the drive, and a neighbor’s drive also was damaged by gunfire, reports said. The inside of the home was also damaged by gunfire.

Police recovered 18 shell casings at the scene, including 13 7.62 mm casings and casings from 9 mm and .40-caliber weapons, reports said.

Reports said officers watched a video from the home’s security system that showed a man throw the explosive device toward the house, then a few minutes later a vehicle with people inside firing at the home could be seen going up the street.

No one was injured. The fire department’s Arson Investigation Unit was also called because of the incendiary device.