Man wounded by police indicted

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A Mahoning County grand jury indicted a man on two counts of felonious assault who was wounded by police early Saturday after reports said he fired shots at officers on the South Side.

Gerald M. Wainwright, 25, of Hilton Avenue, also faces a charge of being a felon in possession of a weapon.

Reports said officers Tim Edwards and Brandon Carraway were on patrol early Saturday when they spotted Wainwright walking in the roadway on West Princeton Avenue wearing a mask and carrying a backpack.

When the officers tried to question him, Wainwright ran away, and reports said he fired three shots at the officers. They returned fire, hitting Wainwright.

Wainwright has been in St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital since he was wounded.

The officers were not injured. They have been on administrative leave since the shooting while the police department’s internal affairs division investigates.

After the shooting, police said they recovered a 9 mm handgun Wainwright had been carrying that had the serial number burned off.

In 2012, a Trumbull County grand jury indicted Wainwright on charges of burglary and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Records from common pleas court there said he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years’ probation, but he was arrested on a probation violation and sentenced in December 2013 to 18 months in prison on the violation.

Police said Wainwright also has a pending warrant from Cuyahoga County for obstructing justice.